


The Trial for Goro Akechi

by NationOfTheFangirls



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Angst, Dark Backstories, F/M, Kissing, Lots of Angst, M/M, Persona 5 Spoilers, Public Sex, Rare Pairings, Sex, Slow Burn, Unconscious, What slow burn?, a little bit of goro and yusuke too, futaba is best girl, goro and ryuji are adorable, random ass oc - Freeform, someone please help this cinnamon roll, they literally make out in chapter nine, third person
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-11-18 03:09:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 34,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11282538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NationOfTheFangirls/pseuds/NationOfTheFangirls
Summary: (Inspired by the fic Courtroom Palace by MikaKagehjra and the rare pair ship Akechi Goro x Sakamoto Ryuji)Surprisingly, Ryuji was the first to discover that the detective prince, Goro Akechi, had his own palace despite previously claiming he had a persona. Apparently, it was impossible to have both, but the Phantom Thieves decide Goro's case is worth looking into.Besides, it might be the only way to save Akira.And save Goro from himself.





	1. Ryuji has a Slight Obsession with Kicking the Butts of Shadows; Part One

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Courtroom Palace](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10968834) by [MikaKagehjra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikaKagehjra/pseuds/MikaKagehjra). 



> Lol, hello, hi. Welcome to my strange fanfiction where Goro/Ryuji is canon and Goro/Yusuke is actually a thing for like a few milliseconds.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this :D
> 
> I literally feel in love with this rare pair the first time I heard it existed. Oml, I'm so excited to write a story about them. I'm also excited to explore the possibilities of Goro having a palace. Welp, on with the story then.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang discovers that Goro Akechi has a palace and decide a course of action to take now.

Surprisingly, Ryuji was the first to discover that the fucking detective prince, Goro fucking Akechi, had a palace. Of course, it was only logical considering the teen's twisted mindset, and by now, the Phantom Thieves had already deducted the fact that he was aiming to murder Akira. It still came as surprise to Ryuji though, but a small surprise that he easily overcame. It had all happened while Ryuji was heading to Leblanc to meet with the rest of the Phantom Thieves to discuss a strategy for Sae's palace and a way to override Goro Akechi's demands that they disband once this is all over. He had just run into the kid himself as he stepped out of the subway station. Akechi had shot him that dead, plastic smile like the ones he gave on TV and waved a greeting to Ryuji before disappearing into the station. Ryuji has tsked in annoyance and passed him by, deciding that the faker wasn't worth his time.

On his way to Leblanc, he'd been grumbling about how fake and plastic Akechi was and a couple minutes later had taken out his phone to text the others about his five-second encounter of the obvious traitor. He had been in the middle of a sentence that featured badmouthing Akechi and many swear words when his phone made the familiar ping.  


"The piece of shit, Goro Akechi—"  
  
_"Candidate found."_  
  
Ryuji stopped abruptly, staring at his phone in utter disbelief. The MetaNav app was there again, staring him down with that ominous red and black color scheme. Then it hit him in the head so hard he felt like he'd been slapped silly. Goro Akechi... the detective prince... fake Mr. Goody Two-Shoes...  _pancake boy_... had a palace? And then Ryuji chided himself. Of course, he had a palace, the kid was messed up. Suddenly he was extremely giddy, Ryuji didn't know at what, but he was. Maybe it was the fact that he would be able to give Shadow Goro a good punch in the face, one that would surely get him unwanted attention in reality. Or maybe it was because the Phantom Thieves now had an advantage over the detective prince and had a chance to save Akira.

Either way, it caused him to rush the rest of the way to Leblanc where he rudely dashed past Sojiro and upstairs to the attic where the rest waited. They'd been in the middle of a discussion when Ryuji appeared, and all paused when they saw Ryuji standing at the top of the stairs, momentarily breathless. Akira raised an eyebrow in question, but Morgana asked the question they all had.

"What happened to you?" he asked, in a tone that almost seemed taunting.

Too excited to argue with Morgana at the time, Ryuji ignored him and walked over to them, humming happily. "Guess who has a palace?" he said, all sing-songy which was strange, even for Ryuji. It took a moment, but they realized who he was talking about right away.

"No way!" Futaba exclaimed, Ann behind her also sporting wide eyes.

"Yes, way, man!" Ryuji cheered, plopping down in a chair. "It was an accident, but when I said Akechi's name aloud, bam! Candidate found and everything!"

Yusuke frowned a little, slipping his hands in the pockets of his pants. "What exactly does this mean, however?" he asked, his tone questioning and condescending.

"It means we can change that asshat's, heart!" Ryuji exclaimed. 

Morgana leaped from his perch on the ledge by the staircase and paced over to Ryuji. Akira was silent per usual and had yet to put in his input, as well as Haru, Makoto, and Ann. Yusuke sighed as if he was verbally rolling his eyes.

"...But what exactly would be Akechi's palace?" Morgana inquired. "And didn't he say he had a persona? How can he have both?"  
  
"He was probably lying then," Ann concluded.

"But if he was lying, how would he be able to enter the Metaverse like we predicted? If he had a palace, then wouldn't we know about it by now? We've said his name around our phones a million times. Why did it act up now? And only when Ryuji was around?" Makoto commented, finally voicing her opinion on the matter.

"Does it matter?" Ryuji groaned.

"Yes, it does matter," Ann shot back.

Akira shifted and suddenly all eyes were on him, waiting for the leader to say something. "I don't think Akechi's palace is like the other ones we've been in."

Yusuke knit his eyebrows together in confusion. "What do you mean, Akira?"  
  
"I mean, what if Akechi's palace is like Futaba's?" The others were staring holes into him, forcing him to continue his theory. "We know his true colors, right? He obviously has a motive to shut the Phantom Thieves down. But what if the motive isn't a selfish desire rather than one made from confusion and spite?"  
  
Morgana seemed to hum in approval at Akira's words and went on to further explain. "In Futaba's palace, Futaba was the Treasure and Shadow Futaba was trying to help her rather than destroy something else for her own benefit. Maybe it's the same way, but reversed I guess. In Akechi's palace, maybe Akechi is the treasure, but Shadow Akechi is trying to destroy himself out of self-hatred or something like that."

"Wouldn't that make Akechi's palace unstable?" Ann said.

"Maybe. It must be why we only just now found out about Akechi's palace," Makoto reasoned. "Either way, Ryuji has a point. We now have a point of leverage over Akechi. Maybe if we change his heart fast enough, we can permanently bring him over to our side instead of 'disbanding' after Sis' palace."

"So, the first order of business.... How do we get  _into_ Akechi's palace?" Ann pointed out.

"...Uh, we could try sayin' random places until we get somethin'?" Ryuji suggested with a shrug.

"Works for me," Morgana responded.

So they spent the rest of that afternoon saying whatever came to mind and whatever made the most sense considering this was Akechi's palace they were talking about. It was soon late evening and the still hadn't got a hit. At that point, Yusuke had to head home, as well as Makoto, Haru, and Ann. Which left the remaining four, Ryuji, Akira, Futaba, and Morgana. They promised to text the others when they got something.

"How about... 'TV Station'?" Futaba suggested.

The MetaNav app did nothing but remind them over and over again, _"No candidate found."_

Morgana let out a yawn. "This is taking forever. At this point, we'll never get anywhere."

"Wait, wait, one more," Ryuji pleaded. "Whatta 'bout 'Apartment'?"  
  
"I thought we already said—" Morgana began.  
  
The ping of  _"Candidate found."_ cut Morgana off and they all glanced at Ryuji's phone in astonishment.

"It... worked?" Morgana said, baffled.

"Nice!" Ryuji proclaimed as he and Akira shared a high five.

"But didn't we already say house? Aren't they basically the same thing?" Futaba murmured in uncertainty.

"Well, it's an apartment, so technically, no," Akira replied.

"Finally! Welp, we should continue this later," Ryuji sighed. "I'm gonna miss the last train at this point and I gotta get home or mom's gonna kill me."

The three sent their farewells as Ryuji disappeared down the staircase and out the door of Leblanc. As Ryuji headed to the subway station, there was a large smart ass sized smile on his face.

_We're gonna kick Goro Akechi's ass and he'll never see it comin'._

* * *

 

Ryuji ran into Akechi that next day on his way school. The blonde-haired boy was momentarily shocked when Akechi didn't smile at him or even acknowledge his presence at best. He was also stunned because the brunette looked like absolute shit. Akechi was sporting dark circles under his eyes, his long shoulder length hair was a mess, and his clothes were wrinkled and disheveled, extremely unlike him. He barely seemed focused on where he was going and seemed short of fainting right there in the subway station. While Akechi's fake manner made Ryuji sick, he couldn't deny that the fact that he looked so utterly _human_ right now, attracted him in a way he didn't want to explore right at that moment. He was used to the detective prince pretending he was invincible and that he was completely fine, but here, right now, showed that he was anything but fine.

And then Ryuji amazed himself once again by walking over to the clearly shaken Goro Akechi. He had just tapped the teenager's shoulder, but Akechi jumped, startled by the sudden and unexpected contact. Then Akechi turned around, bewildered to find Sakamoto Ryuji standing behind him. He shot the other boy a smile, a smile that was supposed to be fake, but Ryuji could see straight past it. See the absolute misery in Akechi's eyes.

"S-Sakamoto-kun," Akechi mumbled, "I didn't expect—"  
  
"You okay man? You like you haven't had sleep in a million years," Ryuji said, cutting him off.

"..." Akechi's smile started to crumble in front of the other, his eyes downcast at the ground. "I'm... fine."

"You sure, man?"

"Yeah."

Ryuji frowned, not convinced, but let the detective prince be and went ahead to school. Ryuji struggled to pay attention in class that day, but he didn't exactly know why. His mind was buzzing with thoughts of the Phantom Thieves' plan for Akechi, Akechi's palace, and Akechi's odd appearance that morning. There was absolutely no one way he'd admit this last part aloud because he was also thinking about Akechi in general. Ryuji prided himself on being an honest person, so he wouldn't lie to himself and say he wasn't thinking of the long-haired brunette, but there was no way he'd tell anyone else about his thoughts.

In the middle of one of his classes, he received a text from Futaba with the staggering news that Akechi had collapsed in the subway earlier that day and was now lying in the hospital. Makoto was the to reply, followed by the others while Ryuji said, nothing, simply reading their messages.

 **[Makoto]:** How will this affect his Shadow Self in his palace? If he's unconscious?  
  
**[Akira]:** Morgana said that "Our best guess is that if we enter his palace while he's unconscious when he wakes up he'll have some type of subconscious notion that we're trying to change his heart"

 **[Ann]:** Does that mean we have to delay the heist than?

 **[Futaba]:** No... Not necessarily. We can't even start the heist if we don't know where Akechi's palace is or what he thinks of his palace as, but I think we can spend the time while he's unconscious to find out where he lives. 

 **[Yusuke]:** His palace is in his apartment, like Ryuji guessed, correct?

 **[Futaba]:** Yeah. I just need to find out where he lives.

 **[Ann]:** Alright then!

 **[Haru]:** Wait... Who will monitor Akechi-kun? We should have someone stay at the hospital with Akechi so we know when he wakes up.

Then Ryuji did the unforeseen option, finally entering the conversation.

 **[Ryuji]:** I'll do it.


	2. Everyone Learns Akechi has Insomnia; Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryuji visits the hospital and finds Akechi mumbling in his sleep.

Ryuji caught himself studying Akechi's unmoving facial features as the detective prince lay there before him in a hospital bed. The dark purple circles were still there, outlining his eyes in thick strips and outlining his lack of sleep. Strangely, he looked sort of peaceful lying there. Not that it mattered. Ryuji took out his phone and texted the others he was here. They had agreed to share shifts of watching over Akechi, but voluntarily, Ryuji took the most shifts. He, Akira, and Yusuke were supposed to switch off every couple of hours but Ryuji found himself convincing Akira in secret to let him have half of his shifts.

The doctor had predicted that Akechi would wake up in two or three days, giving Futaba some good forty-eight hours to get Akechi's address and for the Phantom Thieves to enter his palace for the first time. He told Ryuji that Akechi had simply collapsed from lack of sleep and malnourishment and would be fine once he got some proper sleep and food. The thing that bothered Ryuji though, was that no one noticed a decline in energy or intake of food from Akechi. Well at least, no one had been paying attention. The latter thought made him feel slightly guilty, even if this was the traitor who was planning to shoot Akira in the head and end the Phantom Thieves. He shook himself out of the montage of thoughts and proceeded to play some games on his phone to keep him busy.

Like Ryuji predicted, watching Akechi would be very un-eventful. All he did was sit in a chair by the bed and make sure to text the others if he woke up. After school had ended, Ryuji made a whole show to Akira, Ann, Makoto, Morgana, and Haru that he needed to head over to the hospital in case, by some random miracle, Akechi woke up just hours later after fainting. Morgana had commented on his odd enthusiasm but Akira waved it off, saying "He's probably just excited to cuss him off or something." The others shared their laughs and then parted ways. In two hours, Ryuji would switch with Yusuke, which he strangely was looking forward too.

By now it had only been half an hour, which left an hour and a half to go, but Ryuji didn't mind waiting. Normally in a situation like this, he'd be incredibly anxious and impatient, but Akechi was nothing special. The kid could be asleep for years, and Ryuji bet to himself, that he wouldn't give a shit. If anything, he didn't want to be around when Akechi awoke. Partially because it'd be awkward as hell seeing as the others could easily tell Ryuji disliked Akechi the most, and he was sure Akechi wasn't short of discovering this fact about his and Ryuji's relationship.

That brought him back to the question of... why? Why had he volunteered to watch over Akechi, if he apparently disliked the brunette so damn badly? It was a perplexing question, one that Ryuji wasn't quite sure he had an answer to and wouldn't have an answer to for awhile. At times like this, he half wished that Morgana was around to argue with to distract himself from his own head. He frowned and returned his focus to his game.

Ryuji soon lost interest in the game he'd been playing for the past fifteen minutes and deducted that if he talked to one of the others for awhile he'd be able to cure his boredom. He opened up the Instant Message app and sent a brief text to Yusuke. If it was anyone that could distract him better than he could, it was Yusuke. The artistic boy had a weird set of vocabulary and his naive standpoint on things only made him even more entertaining to talk to.

 **[Ryuji]:** Yo, Yusuke

Ryuji waited for a few minutes, losing hope each second as he began to conclude Yusuke was busy with something else. Finally, the deep blue-haired boy replied.

 **[Yusuke]:** Yes, Ryuji?

A smirk lit up the blonde's face as he began typing his reply.

 **[Ryuji]:** Wanna talk?

There was a pause before Yusuke's reply.

 **[Yusuke]:** Shouldn't you be watching Akechi, Ryuji?

 **[Ryuji]:** Yeah, yeah, but it's borin'. Kid's been doing nothin' but sleep.

 **[Yusuke]:** He fainted Ryuji. Were you expecting something more endearing?

 **[Ryuji]:** Eh, not really.

 **[Yusuke]:** Is it my shift yet?

Ryuji glanced at the clock in the hospital room and snorted. He still had an hour and ten minutes left to watch the infamous "Detective Prince".

 **[Ryuji]:** Still got a solid hour before ya.

 **[Yusuke]:** Oh.

 **[Ryuji]:** Why?

 **[Yusuke]:** I was busy with studying and I lost track of time. I thought you texted me to tell me it was my shift for watching Akechi.

 **[Ryuji]:** Nah, just bored.

 **[Yusuke]:** Ryuji.

 **[Ryuji]:** Yeah?

 **[Yusuke]:** Can you send me a picture of Akechi's hospital room? I want to know what it looks like so I can decide whether or not to bring my sketchbook.

 **[Ryuji]:** Why the hell would the look of Akechi's room have somethin' to do with bringing ya sketchbook?

 **[Yusuke]:** Scenery greatly impacts my mood and what I draw. I was thinking of drawing something peaceful yet monotone.

 **[Ryuji]:** And that means?

 **[Yusuke]:** Please just send me a picture, Ryuji.

 **[Ryuji]:** Fine, fine.

Ryuji switched from the IM app to the camera and took a quick snap of the room before sending it to Yusuke. The hospital room wasn't much to look at. The walls were a standard white that wasn't quite white and more of a faded gray, which made Ryuji's bright red shirt stand out against the room. There wasn't a TV or really anything to quell anyone's boredom in the room. There was a table beside Akechi's bed that held a vase full of wilting yellow flowers. The flowers being the only color in the room beside Ryuji's colorful clothes slightly bothered him but it's not like he could cover this place in paint or something. In the center was the hospital bed with Akechi lying on it, his light brown hair fanned out on the pillow beneath his head.

There was a chair on the side of the bed opposite of the side with the table, and Ryuji sat in that chair which was closest to the doorway which allowed easy escape if necessary. After sending the picture to Yusuke, he waited for a response.

 **[Yusuke]:** Thanks.

Ryuji glanced at the clock and groaned when he realized it'd only been ten minutes.

 **[Yusuke]:** It may be sad to say, but I must go, Ryuji. I will see you at the hospital in an hour.

 **[Ryuji]:** See ya.

After texting Yusuke goodbye, he closed the app and sighed, shoving his phone back into his pocket. He grumbled something under his breath about no TV and took a look at Akechi once more. The brunette teenager was still of course, asleep and probably nothing would change it. While Ryuji was distracted with talking to Yusuke however, he had slightly shifted to the right, away from Ryuji. It wasn't a particular fact that should have bothered Ryuji, but it did. He mentally scolded himself. Whatever way Goro fucking Akechi was laying down didn't matter to him. He really shouldn't give a damn at all.

The thoughts slowly consuming Ryuji also consumed a good fifteen more minutes, leaving forty-five minutes on the clock until Yusuke showed up. He wasn't even aware of the other voice mumbling in the room until he was suddenly pulled out of his head because of a loud and pained yelp. Ryuji blinked, startled, and glanced at Akechi who was shivering under the blankets and muttering things that to Ryuji were mostly incoherent. Then the gibberish began to become words and the blonde-haired runner began to listen to these words.

"...too late..."

"...not enough time..."

"...found... candidate... Shido... no... candidate..."

"...Phantom... Akira... help..."

Ryuji's eyes widened as he listened. When Shido's name came up, he subconsciously leaned forward and continued to strain his ears for more important words. The last of the detective prince's sentecences—if Ryuji could even call them that—seemed particularly depressing, a cry for help.  _Phantom... Akira... help._ It didn't take a genius to deduct that Akechi was calling for help, most likely from the Phantom Thieves and Akira himself. From what, Ryuji didn't know. His best guess was maybe his palace or his Shadow Self but Morgana said that palace owners, in reality, didn't actually know of their palace's existence or Shadow Self. But then again, Akechi was a totally different case, and if Akira's theory was correct, would involve a lot of threats about self-destruction.

He didn't hear himself say the words until the last word left his mouth. "Akechi, you're an asshole and you're planning to kill us and stuff, but if this works, we'll save you, 'right?"

If Ryuji was stunned by his own statement, he didn't show it, just confidently stared at Akechi's sleeping yet distressed face. The shivering hadn't stopped though, which somehow prompted the blonde to pull the blankets just a little further up even if the shivering wasn't from the cold. Akechi shifted, this time towards Ryuji. He froze for a period of seven seconds before he relaxed and moved away from the bed. The shivering got worse and Ryuji sheepishly scratched the back of his neck, unsure of how to stop it. He hadn't been aware that during that time where'd he'd been listening in on Akechi's sleep talk and tucking him in, another chunk of fifteen minutes was eaten. Now he had half an hour left with this bozo.

He sat down when his phone went off with that  _ping ping ping_ that annoyed and comforted him at the same time. Ryuji took out his phone to check his IM, unsurprised it was a text from Akira asking if he was okay and if Akechi was doing alright. Ryuji contemplated telling Akira about the past few minutes and then glanced at Akechi. His breath was caught in his throat as he stared at him. He looked so human right now and Ryuji would be lying to say it wasn't tempting the blonde in some way. The plastic look that Akechi took to sporting 24/7 was gone like it was this morning and now he wore a mask of discomfort and fear.

It was kinda sickening to admit that Ryuji had a strange urge to  _hug_ Akechi. He didn't know if the boredom was doing something to him or what Akechi mumbled earlier, but he now had an overwhelming desire to hug the teen. He ignored it and went ahead to send Akira a reply, with the truth written in it.

 **[Ryuji]:** Yeah, he's fine. 'm just bored. By the way, Akechi was doin' some weird stuff earlier.

 **[Akira]:** Like?

 **[Ryuji]:** Muttering stuff. He said "Phantom" and your name and then said "help".

 **[Akira]:** Morgana's looking into it. By the way, Yusuke will be there soon.

 **[Ryuji]:** Shit, didn't look at the clock!

 **[Akira]:** Have a nice night, Ryuji.

He swore he could hear the suggestive tone Akira would've spoken with as he said that last text aloud. He rolled his eyes, but a smirk poked at the corners of his lips. He turned off his phone and looked at Akechi. Then he realized Akechi's eyes were open. And then he registered the fact that his eyes were just brown irises instead of normal human looking eyes with black pupils.

Ryuji hissed in surprise and dropped his phone. Akechi's eyelids closed over his pupil-less eyes as he let out a groan that sounded a lot like "Ryuji". While staring at the bed to monitor anymore movement, he bent down to pick up his phone. Akechi remained still and motionless which partially relieved Ryuji and freaked him out at the same time. He took a step back and sat back down in the chair, staring warily at the brunette as if he was going to jump out of his bed and attack him.

"...Sakamoto-kun..." Akechi murmured, setting Ryuji on edge. "...Sakamoto... kun..."

Growing tired of the suspended fear, he answered to Akechi, who he thought was sleeping but wasn't sleeping or maybe he was? "Akechi."

"...help me..."

He frowned, knitting his eyebrows in confusion at the response. He tried returning the words. "How?"

"...kill me. Kill me, Sakamoto-kun."


	3. Eavesdropping isn't Rude, if You Do It Correctly; Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even though Ryuji was supposed to go home after his shift, he sticks around outside to listen in on an unnatural conversation between Yusuke and Akechi.
> 
> Oh, yeah, and also gets jealous but that's not the point.

Ryuji was so stunned by the words that Akechi had mumbled, that he didn't even notice Yusuke arrive just seconds after the clock hit six. Yusuke frowned a little, thinking Ryuji would've been gone by now, but didn't say anything about it, just stepped into the room and strode to the other side of Akechi's hospital cot. He placed his bag on the table and leaned down to study Akechi's condition. Like the reports had said earlier, there were dark circles under his eyes and his skin had a pale tinge to it that Yusuke swore wasn't there the other day. He sighed deeply, showing his minimal concern for Akechi's health. Yusuke then trained his eyes on Ryuji, wishing the boy would get out already so he could start his shift.

"Ryuji," Yusuke began, but the blonde didn't snap out of his limbo. He tried again. "Ryuji." He huffed and walked around the bed to the side with the chair. "Ryuji!" he said once more, much sterner this time.

Ryuji finally snapped out off it but was greatly astonished when he realized Yusuke was standing beside him. "Hey man, when'd you get here?"

Yusuke glanced at the clock, flicked a loose strand of hair out of his eyes and grit his teeth. "I've been here for five minutes, Ryuji."

"Oh, sorry man," he responded, standing up as he sheepishly shot the other an apologetic smile. He grabbed his bag and moved, now giving Yusuke a place to sit down. Remembering their conversation just an hour earlier, Ryuji asked, "Bring your sketchbook?"

The blue-haired teenager nodded and walked around Ryuji to get to his bag before returning to the chair and sitting down. To avoid being rude, he didn't ask for Ryuji to leave, but desperately wished he would. Ryuji waved off the odd behavior, said "Bye", and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Yusuke let out a sigh of relief once Ryuji had finally left the room and then smiled, turning his attention to Akechi.

Truth be told, the main reason Yusuke had wanted to bring his sketchbook was to get a rough scale drawing of Akechi to paint later. A startling collection of events had led to this excitement, and despite the fact that Yusuke had requested Akechi model for him dozens of times, the other rejected them. He decided he was going to have to get a sketch now while Akechi was unconscious and couldn't deny him.

No one really knew about Yusuke's slowly-growing obsession with Akechi beside well, him. He was fully aware the detective prince made him feel something he didn't understand but would be willing to experience over and over again. He knew Akechi was trying to kill their leader and disband the Phantom Thieves, but that didn't stop his feelings from existing. If anything, instead of putting out the small flame, it made the small flame grow larger. He longed to know more about the brunette and why he was this way, but if those fake smiles meant anything, Akechi wouldn't tell him. The teen preferred to keep his secrets, whether or not he was aware people were onto him. He was a bit upset that Ryuji had volunteered before he could, but it didn't matter because he was sitting beside the detective prince right now and nothing could change this moment.

Yusuke noticed right away the shivering and pulled the blanket over his chest. Akechi shifted and Yusuke stopped to study his facial expression. It was one webbed with a calm composure but also mixed with a slight bout of panic. Whatever could he be dreaming about that disturbed him so, was beyond Yusuke, but he was going to sit here and wait for Akechi to say anything. Akira had texted him on his way here what Ryuji said, that Akechi had been sleep-talking. He didn't know why, but he wanted Akechi to say something now, to prove he was okay and Yusuke's worries were for nothing.

He released the blankets and sat down in the chair, still staring intently at the detective prince.

The one event that started this mess of feelings happened a couple of days after the confrontation with Akechi at Shujin Academy. While the confrontation was frustrating in itself, to be cornered like that and not have an option to fight back, Yusuke could admit that the calm and intelligent persona Akechi had at the time impressed him. Even though from time to time, Yusuke happened to be the slowest to process things in the group, he soon figured out, even before the others, that Akechi's smiles were fake, just like him. Why did he know this? Because he found Akechi sitting under a willow tree with a dead look in his eyes and a face streaked with tears. 

To clear his head, clouded with worries after a meeting with the Phantom Thieves about the detective prince himself, Yusuke had decided to take a walk in the brisk cool air of the evening as the sky faded from blue to orange to black and dot itself with stars. He was at a park, somewhere, walking. That's all he knew, and it hadn't occurred to him there was a slight possibility of getting lost and missing the last train back to the Kosei High School Dorms. He was simply wandering around, thinking, and then he saw Akechi lying there. Due to Akechi's stoic position, Yusuke momentarily thought he was dead. But as he slowly got closer to the willow tree, he could see the slight rise and fall of his chest.

Goro Akechi, was in fact, not dead.

Yusuke wasn't startled by the fact, actually, he was a little grateful. If anyone saw him by a dead corpse, they would have a lot of questions that would take place at a police station because the bystanders suspected he murdered the Great Detective Prince. Yusuke diverged from the path completely and headed towards the brunette who laid against the trunk, motionless. Yusuke bent down by him, showing the tiniest bit of concern for the other.

"Akechi-san, you do not look well." Of course, him being him, he needed to state the obvious.

The teenager shifted slightly and tilted his head to look at Yusuke. That's when he caught wind of the glint of misery in Akechi's eyes and the dried tears on his cheeks. The detective prince struggled to put together a presentable smile as he took to responding, "Oh, Kitagawa-kun, hel—"

"Yusuke," the blue-haired boy interrupted. "Please, call me Yusuke."

Akechi shifted uncomfortably and looked away, prompting Yusuke to sit down on the grass next to him. The brunette cleared his voice and began speaking. "You shouldn't have seen me like this, Yusuke."

"How so?" Yusuke probed.

"...I-It's..."

"Yes?"

"...Nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Yusuke frowned in disapproval. "You don't need to lie to me, Akechi-san."

Akechi took a sharp intake of air and began playing with his fingers. The behavior was all so unlike the boy Yusuke had seen just days ago at the cultural festival at Shujin Academy, during the panel. Akechi was still secretive, shown by his slight inability to confront the fact that someone else had seen him in pain, but this Akechi did not look happy or even the slightest bit peaceful with himself. Sure, he appeared calm. The fact that he still looked and acted so calm scared Yusuke a little, but it really wasn't any of his concern. There was one thing Yusuke could easily point out on this canvas.

Akechi looked  _broken_. It reminded him of himself back when he was still under Madarame's care and in denial that his sensei could do wrong. There was a thought that something was wrong, that something could change, but he simply was too far gone to come back, too far gone to find that flaw and fix it. Yusuke visibly shuddered. If it wasn't for the Phantom Thieves, is this what would've happened to him in the future? Would he be broken beyond repair, unable to see the people in front of him trying to mend him? Nonetheless, the Phantom Thieves helped him, and now it was Yusuke's turn to help someone else.

"Akechi-san," he started once again but paused at the sound of a quiet hiccup.

The hiccup was followed by another, and another, and then a whimper, and then a sob, and there were tears on Akechi's face and Yusuke didn't know what to do, how to stop the tears or the sobs or the cries for help. So he sat beside the crying boy and wrapped his arm around the Brunette's shoulder and tugged him closer to him. Yusuke, at the time, was too focused on calming Akechi down to consider the reason Akechi leaned into him and laid his head on the artist's shoulder. But now, in the hospital room, he had all the time in the world to think about it.

When Yusuke heard that Akechi had collapsed in the subway station, his mind went into a panic. His stupid brain reminded him of the mental shutdowns that had been happening for over a couple of months now, giving him the worry that the black mask user who had been wandering in palaces had entered Akechi's and killed his shadow-self, resulting in a mental shutdown and death. For now, it looked like none of those two options would be a realistic conclusion and Yusuke hoped they would never become conclusions. 

Akechi stopped shivering, sending waves of relief over Yusuke, who relaxed in his chair and took his sketchbook out of his bag. He took a couple more minutes to stare at the detective prince before he took a pencil from his bag as well, set the bag on the floor and started to put lines and shapes to paper.

If anything, Yusuke felt extremely guilty. They could've avoided Akechi fainting completely if Yusuke had told the others about his condition. He was sure he was the only one who took notice of Akechi's behavior whenever they interacted with him. The day before yesterday, Akechi seemed stressed but hid his trauma behind one of his infamous synthetic smiles and the day before that, Yusuke swore he could see faint purple lines under his eyes as a result of forgetting to add makeup that morning to hide the circles marking sleep deprivation. He should've said something, especially yesterday when they discovered Akechi had a palace. 

There was still no news from Futaba yet about the address for Akechi's apartment, just cheeky texts about whatever topic there was to text about. Things that Yusuke had chosen to ignore simply because they didn't inform him of what he wanted to know. He was growing impatient with the red-head shut in, but he didn't display it. He could turn to a palette of paints and a blank canvas to vent.

As Yusuke thought, he drew, and what he drew was Akechi for previously explained reasons. He had partially finished the linework and moving to complete it, but the paranoia behind waiting for Akechi to talk or do something out of the ordinary like Ryuji said he witnessed was slowly eating him up inside. He grew frustrated when he kept getting lines wrong as he added definition to Akechi's shoulder-length locks of brown hair. Maybe it was appropriate to take a small break, Yusuke would be fine soon if he just took a small break. The drawing wasn't going anywhere, and sadly, Akechi wasn't going anywhere either. He placed the sketchbook and pencil on Akechi's bed and relaxed once more in the chair, trying to put his mind at ease, in turn allowing his mind to ease up his tense muscles.

Yusuke hadn't looked at the clock once since Ryuji left, so he was unable to acknowledge that an hour had passed by. Akira was supposed to come later at eight  P.M. to start his shift and then he would go home around ten thirty since he had more freedom during the night compared to most of them. Yusuke could stay out late if he chose to, but Akira had already decided the shifts and shift times so Yusuke was stuck with the middle shift. It was fine, at least he had time with Akechi, even if he was unconscious.

For awhile, Yusuke thought the shivering had stopped and moved to pull back the blanket in case Akechi felt uncomfortable sleeping under blankets and a jacket. Then he discovered Akechi's shivering had worsened, the boy was shaking in his own skin. Yusuke stared blankly as if the problem would fix itself but it didn't. There were other causes for shivering, right? If Akechi's not cold maybe he's nervous? Or scared?

The image of the detective prince crying flashed in front of his eyes. Akechi was scared, more like terrified of something that was happening in his subconscious and Yusuke could do nothing about it but stand there and watch helplessly.

Then the single event Yusuke had been hoping for happened, and he listened intently, even though the first word had passed Akechi's lips yet.

"...Y-Yusuke," Akechi croaked. The brunette's eyes were still closed but he had said the artistic boy's name aloud and that only excited Yusuke more.

"Yes, Akechi-san?" he replied, stepping closer.

"Yusuke... Yusuke... Yusuke, help..."

"I'm here, Akechi-san." To prove his point, Yusuke shifted the blankets away and took Akechi's hand in his.

"Help me..."

Yusuke leaned closer. "Of course. How shall I help you?"

There wasn't a response immediately which resembled a knife of anxiety carving devil horns into his heart. "..S-Sakamoto-kun... Sa-Sakamoto-kun wouldn't do it..."

"I'll do it, I promise, Akechi-san."

"Please, Yusuke... kill me."

The deep blue-haired male jumped, startled by the request and in result released Akechi's hand.  _Kill him?_ What is he, crazy? What kind of request is that? Who in the entirety of Japan, lying in a hospital bed, supposedly lying unconscious, would ask to be murdered? Lies, lies, lies, lies,  _lies_. Yusuke shook his head in disbelief and fell into the chair, deeply distraught. He swallowed a lump in his throat and glanced at the teenager, who was no longer shivering yet wore an unpleasant and quite psychotic smile.

"Kill me, Kitagawa-kun," Akechi repeated as if taunting Yusuke.

"...Akechi-san."

"Kill m—"

"I can't!" Yusuke huffed and Akechi's voice silenced itself, allowing Yusuke a moment of the peace. The disturbing smile was gone, replaced by the same blank and soft look that had been accompanying Akechi's facial features since Yusuke got there.

* * *

Ryuji stood in front of the hospital door leading to Akechi's room. He wasn't supposed to be there. Yusuke thought he had left already but Ryuji was still there, chilling in the hallway and occasionally taking the time to listen in on things happening inside of the room. For the most part, it seemed very peaceful, like Ryuji's shift but the blonde could feel a tinge of unease in the air. Was something wrong with Ake—no, Yusuke?

If something was wrong, Yusuke would've sent a text to group chat. Yusuke and Akechi are fine. After an hour, Ryuji considered leaving since nothing was happening but he still stood outside the hospital room. Nurses, doctors, and visitors alike had shot him odd looks but did not question the blonde, leaving him, his thoughts, and Akechi's room alone. Ryuji stared at the battery of his phone which was almost dead. Akira had announced in group chat that he would be arriving at the hospital a little earlier for unknown reasons, Futaba stopped by at chat to leave a couple of dead memes but no news on progress and Makoto had accidentally left a text meant for Ann in the group chat which she deleted merely moments later.

Ryuji almost decided nothing was going to happen until he heard the crackly, quiet, "Yusuke." Quickly, he shifted and as quietly as he could, pressed his ear to the door.

"Yes, Akechi-san?"

"Yusuke... Yusuke... Yusuke, help..."

"I'm here, Akechi-san."

"Help me..."

"Of course, how shall I help you?"

Ryuji made a sour face, while it shouldn't bother him, he felt just a teensy bit mad that Akechi had said more to Yusuke than him.

"..S-Sakamoto-kun... Sa-Sakamoto-kun wouldn't do it..."

He froze at the previous sentence but he already knew what Akechi was going to say next.

"I'll do it, I promise, Akechi-san."

"Please, Yusuke... kill me."

His breath hitched in his throat as he waited for Yusuke's response.

"Kill me, Kitagawa-kun."

"...Akechi-san."

"Kill m—"

"I can't!"

Ryuji refused to hear more, he stepped away from the door and finally began heading home. On the way, he opened up a private chat with Akira and began a message that started like:

 **[Ryuji]:** Dude, I gotta tell ya somethin'.

 


	4. Lazy Futaba Gets Off the Couch; Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lazy Futaba finally reveals the location of Goro Akechi's apartment and they take a road trip to the other side of Tokyo to stand in front of his door and try out random names of places in an attempt to enter his palace.

Lazy, lazy, Futaba finally told everyone what they've been waiting for. It was next day and everyone besides Yusuke, who had first shift today, was gathered in the attic of Leblanc. Ann was in charge of texting Yusuke about any important decisions they'd be making and overall any general things accomplished during the meeting. After Futaba had texted Akira that she had Akechi's address, Akira pressed for an immediate meeting to decide whether or not they would check out the palace today. It was effortless to convince the others to go because at this point everyone was anxious and Akechi could wake up anytime from now till tomorrow. So the group of seven took a subway train to the other side of Tokyo, with a common goal in mind.

Enter Goro Akechi's palace.

Since the train wasn't too crowded today, Ryuji could grab a seat next to Akira. The two had stayed up late texting each other about the strange things Akechi's been muttering in his sleep. Ryuji admitted he had stayed an extra hour during Yusuke's shift yesterday, listening in on an odd and unnatural conversation between the two where the brunette demanded the artist to murder him. The blonde had also added that Akechi had requested that of him too and asked for Akira's input. Akira said he didn't know how to respond to that, except the fact that during his shift he'd attempt to initiate one of these strange conversations with Akechi as well and see what happens.

Ryuji nudged Akira's shoulder, prompting the dark-haired male to look over at his friend through his glasses, raising an eyebrow as if to say, "What do you want?" Ryuji shifted and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"So, did he say anything to you during your shift?" Ryuji whispered, to avoid other passengers on the subway from overhearing. Akira tilted his head up as if recalling something and then nodded. "What'd he say?  
  
"He told me what you told me," Akira replied with a shrug.

"So like, called out your name and told you to kill him?" Ryuji quipped. The raven-haired teen nodded and from his bag, Morgana peaked his head out.

"What are you two talking about?"  
  
"Sketchy Akechi," Akira chuckled. Ryuji muffled a laugh as Morgana rolled his eyes if cats could even do that. "In all seriousness, we are talking about Akechi."

Morgana let out a quiet mewl of interest. "It was about the sleep talking last night, correct?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Ryuji answered. 

"It makes me wonder if Akira's theory is true," Morgana added. Akira shrugged, silent as ever and glanced out the window as the subway train halted to a stop at a station. They still had three more stations before they reached the part of Tokyo that house Akechi's apartment building. According to Futaba, he lived on the fourth floor and his apartment number was 4H.

Speaking of Futaba, she had come over to sit next to Akira and was now chatting avidly with him about something that sounded like a video game. Ryuji sighed, now left alone with his thoughts and his thoughts were of the brunette lying in a hospital bed right now. What was going on in his head? And why the heck was he asking people to kill him? It started to make him wonder if the doctors had been given the same request too. Or maybe this was exclusive to the Phantom Thieves. At the same time, how would Akechi know who approached him? Was he even actually unconscious? Stupid Sketchy Akechi.

As Ryuji thought, he failed to notice that they had arrived at their station. Akira had to shake him to get his attention, and after that Ryuji was still a little bit out of it. He apologized and followed the others out of the train car and out of the station. Once above ground, they all turned to Futaba for instructions on where they had to go. Futaba led them down the street and they embarked on their journey. Thankfully, the walk to Akechi's apartment was quite short and on the way, they discussed what they would do when they got there. It was quite basic, they would stand in front of the door with their phones out and try out different places that Akechi might think of his apartment as. If they were successful, they would enter Akechi's palace and get a first look at it. If they weren't they'd come back tomorrow and try again.

Akechi's apartment building wasn't as fancy as Ryuji originally predicted. It actually looked kind of worn down, with rough brown bricks and sagging windows decorating the exterior. They walked past the front area with mailboxes and such and headed to the fourth floor. No one was in the hallways for some reason but no one complained. It'd be difficult to explain why seven kids were wandering in an apartment building. Each of the doors they passed on the fourth floor, where gray and had faded black letters on them stating which apartment it was. They reached 4H after a short while and began the casual routine of guessing random places until they got something. Akira texted Yusuke about getting to Akechi's apartment safely.

"Detective office," Ann started off.

_"No candidate found."_

"Police station," Haru tried.

_"No candidate found."_

"Courthouse?" Makoto added.

_"No candidate found."_

Ryuji groaned, "Whatta about... Tokyo?"

_"No candidate found."_

"Uh... Jail cell!" Futaba exclaimed.

_"No candidate found."_

"Let Akira try something," Morgana whined from Akira's bag. Akira glared at Morgana briefly before putting his answer.

"Prison."

_"Beginning navigation."_

Haru let out a giddy squeal of joy, "It worked, Akira-kun, it worked!" as reality dissolved into the Metaverse, and brought them to Akechi's palace.

* * *

 

Akechi's palace was... dark.

And indeed, a prison.

The Phantom Thieves minus Fox stood outside a large prison with high-rising metal fences with barbed wire decorating the top surrounding the perimeter of the prison. From a bus, apparent inmates clambered out, handcuffs encasing their wrists. From where they stood, they couldn't tell if they were shadows or imaginary people. They seemed to have a hulking size similar to a shadow though. The gang quickly noticed that their outfits weren't the same. Makoto was the first to say anything about it and the others followed suit examining their changed uniforms.

"Joker, look at our outfits," Queen pointed out. Joker took a look and his eyes became the size of saucers.

"We're... guards?" Panther mumbled.

"Apparently," Queen sighed.

Ryuji shifted and looked down at his clothing. It still had the color scheme of his old Metaverse outfit, but it was indeed a guard outfit. The same went for the others. Everyone had the same color scheme and what not, but they were essentially... guards. They all still had their masks, which felt like a minor relief to Skull. "Why though?" Skull questioned.

"Cause that's what Akechi's cognition sees us as. Guards," Mona pointed out, checking out his uniform himself.

Makoto shifted, uneasy. "Doesn't that mean he's aware we're here?"

"Probably," Mona responded. "I mean, he does know we're the Phantom Thieves already so his Shadow Self would probably be self-aware too."

"Is this why we're guards?" Panther quipped.

"I think," Joker said. "Akechi sees the Phantom Thieves as guards. Guards of what, I don't know. It must be only specific to us. If someone who let's say maybe had a persona but wasn't a part of us, they would be wearing their normal clothes."

"Well, I have an idea," Mona announced. Without saying another word to them, he bounded off towards the line of shadow people. The rest of them slowly began to follow and as they got closer they realized the inmates were actual shadows. Mona trotted up to them, jumped on their heads, shoved them and kicked them, but they did nothing but grumble and hiss. Mona came back to them with a triumphant smile. "Just as I thought. If we're guards and the shadows are inmates, that means shadows can't attack us!"

"But why?" Noir murmured.

"This is Akechi we're talking 'bout," Skull cut in. "Who knows?"

"It doesn't matter right now," sighed Joker. "Let's go before this place springs some type of surprise on us."

The all hummed in agreement and followed Joker as he took off towards the entrance. Since they were currently guards, there was no point trying to find another way through the fence but Mona suggested when they were leaving the palace that they add that on their to-do list in case Akechi suddenly flips it on them. They waddled past the shadows who did nothing, still shocking Skull somewhat and entered the prison. The inside wasn't too glamorous, in fact, it looked exactly what you'd think a prison would look like with gray walls and security cameras everywhere. The shadows trudged through the entrance and down the halls, emptying into cells. The others gave each other weird looks as they ventured down a hallway, looking around.

They came across the lunch hall first where shadows draped in white and black jumpsuits sat at tables with trays full of slop sitting in front of them. They did nothing but turn their heads and stare at the guard uniform adorned Phantom Thieves. Skull found himself becoming uneasy with all the eyes on him, fully knowing the shadows could pounce on him at any moment. He shuffled to the front of the group with Joker and Mona and tried to ignore the shadows as they passed through the lunch hall and entered another hallway filled with gray, security cameras, and the occasional cell inhabited by a shadow or two. Skull had a feeling he'd been getting lost constantly in the future for every hallway looked the same. 

As they began getting further into the Palace, the hallways became dimmer and the walls wore cracks and graffiti. Skull was the first to notice their outfits flicker, and soon they were no longer guards but wore the same official clothing that they had worn in every palace up until this one. Panther yelped when she realized she was wearing her red panther outfit instead of a red guard outfit and the others quickly registered the change as well. Mona speculated this was because they were getting closer to the treasure or possibly Akechi's shadow self. It was evident because the place seemed to be changing appearance as well.

Everyone found the change appropriate and Skull actually missed his persona outfit for a moment, not complaining when it came back. Mona also told them that they need to be more careful now since Akechi's cognition now recognized them as thieves instead of guards. There was one thing that didn't add up though. How had they gotten so close to Akechi's treasure in a mere day? It'd be impossible. Even if this was a prison, all palaces had multiple floors that need to be explored for safe rooms, chests, and hidden pathways. That means there was only one option for this. Shadow Akechi.

Skull wanted to yell at the others to make them stop, to make them turn around. Tell them they were running into the wrong person but he swallowed his suspicion and said nothing, just kept running. At the end of the hallway, they spotted something peculiar. A cell filled with black mist, swirling around something. The thieves slowed to a stealthy walk and approached the cell which was guarded by two shadows. Joker and Skull positioned themselves at different sides of the hallway and prepared for an ambush. The moment they turned their heads, both of them attacked, ripping off the masks of the shadows and revealing their true forms.

While Joker's party fought one guard, Skull's party fought another. Joker took Mona, Noir, and Queen while Skull was assisted by Oracle and Panther. The guards were Archangels, and Skull could already tell this was going to be a difficult fight. By the time they had the boss down to half health, Panther was scrambling to heal the three of them constantly, and Skull was having a hard time landing a good hit. They were almost done when Joker joined the fight, having already defeated his guard. Together they finally killed the Archangel, finishing with an all-out attack. It was refreshing to do that, Skull admitted to himself.

Now that they were free from battling, they could finally find out what was inside the cell full of mist. Joker wrapped his hands around the bars of the cell and shook it, but the cell remained doorless. Panther moaned in minor annoyance and began searching for an entrance, in fact, all of them did. In frustration, Skull kicked the cell bars, and an echoing and dreary voice reverberated from inside the cell.

"You're going to attract attention from the guards," it said. It didn't take a second of thought to know it was Shadow Akechi.

"Akechi-kun?" Noir spoke first.

"Okumura-san," Akechi's shadow mused. "How satisfying of you to see me like this."

Noir bit her lip, perplexed at his reply. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing." The black mist that had been pooling around the cell suddenly withdrew, revealing Shadow Akechi himself. Inside the cell sat Akechi, with golden eyes and a soulless smile. He wore traditional black and white clothing, emphasizing that he too was an inmate to his own mind. Around his arms and legs were chains, which pooled around him. The one holding down his left arm was silver, while the one around his right arm was bronze. The one around his left foot was gold and the one around his right foot was black and rusted. A chain encircled his neck, and this chain was a pattern of red and black, what Skull consider to be the theme colors for Phantom Thieves calling cards.

Joker tugged at the cell bars again but they didn't budge. "Akechi!" he shouted. "Why are you...?"

"I thought you figured it out already, Joker," the brunette chuckled, his grin infected with madness. "My heart is my own prison."

Panther crossed her arms and tossed her ponytails over her shoulder. "But why?"

"You don't want to know the reason," The shadow retorted. 

Skull shifted, studying the brunette for himself. Shadow Akechi was off, and he had an aura reminding him of the Akechi in reality, lying in the hospital bed. He was suspicious sure, but there was something more human about him than the other shadow palace rulers he'd encountered over the months. Shadow Akechi seemed more real and hunkered down to reality than anyone else as if he was accepting some terrible fate of some sort. "You knew that we found out you had a palace. Didn't you?" Skull asked.

Akechi nodded, his smile growing wider if that was even possible. "Didn't you hear my pleas? Joker, you heard them too right?" The members of the Phantom Thieves turned to glance at Joker and Skull, who just stared back at Akechi in surprise.:"I suppose you're here to change my heart, correct?" The majority of them nodded, except Skull who seemed a bit too stunned to comprehend anything right now. "I'll make your lives easy then. Do as I ask and I'll help you."

Makoto stirred, biting her lip. "Why would you help us change your own heart?"

"Well Niijima-san, there are two options currently. Either you change my heart, change my ways, and have me confess my wrongs, or I destroy my palace myself and you get blamed for it." Skull scowled, hitting the cell bars with his fist.

"Enough with your damn blackmailing!" he demanded angrily.

"Will it matter Sakamoto-kun?" Shadow Akechi laughed, throwing his head back as glints of insanity danced in his golden eyes. "The police already believe you are responsible for Okumura and the mental shutdowns. All we need to do is add me to the list and you'll be wanted criminals. Besides, if you don't steal my heart, I'll turn you in." Akechi shifted, the chains shifted with him, as if mirroring his wrongs. "Do you know that you're here? My cognitive versions of you. You're all here."

Joker raised an eyebrow as if silently pressing for more information. Shadow Akechi continued. "Everyone, from Morgana to Haru. If you run into yourselves, expect a fight. Like you noticed earlier, you were guards, correct?" Joker nodded. "The cognitive selves, they're guards too and their job is to keep intruders out and the shadows in."

"Wait, the shadows earlier... They had handcuffs," Panther proclaimed.

Akechi's shadow self, lifted a hand to the bars and the bars lowered. Joker released his grip and so did Mona, allowing the bars to slide into their slots in the floor. He gestured for them to come in, and they did before he lifted his handcuffs and the cell wall rose again. "For now, the shadows around the entrance and perimeter are subdued. It's to help you get through. I don't know how long I can keep my hold on them, they seem restless and eager to protect my treasure. As you can see, there are still many shadows in the interior that act as guards instead of inmates. They'll do nothing to me, but they'll most likely attack you or alert higher power, aka my cognitive versions of you. I will give you a map next time you visit, but here's a warning. Next time, you'll be inmates, not guards. Of course, this only happens if you agree to my terms. You agree, right?"

Joker nodded, sealing the deal for the rest of them. "Good," Shadow Akechi commented. "Once you pass the calm area, your clothes will change back to normal."

"How do you know so much about manipulating your palace?" Mona questioned with suspicion-seeking eyes.

"...I've been in the Metaverse for a long, long time, Morgana."

 


	5. Surprise! Coffee is Bad For Your Throat; Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After entering Akechi's palace for the first time, the Phantom Thieves return to Leblanc for another meeting and for Yusuke and Akira to switch shifts.
> 
> The surprise the encounter at the small coffee shop isn't exactly pleasant.

The Phantom Thieves left the Metaverse... stunned. They hadn't expected to run into Shadow Akechi on the first day, nonetheless, agree to work with him to steal his own Treasure and change his heart. It was a strange request that sent Morgana spinning to figure it out and the others left in a pool of confusion and curiosity. The walk to the subway station was silent while everyone speculated about their encounter, except Akira who seemed more focused on getting back on time since he happened to be checking his watch every five seconds. Makoto who had a public prosecutor as a sister was already thinking of suspicions of everything Akechi could've done to have a palace in the first place. Haru was genuinely worrying about Akechi and was hoping that they'd be able to enter his palace again the first opportunity they got. Morgana was resting in the bottom of Akira's bag, questioning everything he knew about the Metaverse and Shadow's power. Futaba was focusing and analyzing what Shadow Akechi said—in her own strange way. Ann was trying to determine how difficult this palace was going to be, even with the help of Akechi's shadow self, and then Ryuji was being Ryuji.

Thinking about kicking shadows' ass.

That was an exaggeration. 

Ryuji was indeed thinking about fighting, but he was also concerned about how trustworthy Shadow Akechi would be. The Phantom Thieves already knew there was something sketchy about the detective prince so it wouldn't be stretching the truth to say Shadow Akechi was untrustworthy as well. At the same time, he kind of  _wanted_ Shadow Akechi to be untrustworthy. It would be one less surprise for him, and so far he wasn't enjoying all these surprises. Of course, it'd suck and stuff, but he'd rather fight an enemy he'd be expecting instead of an enemy he isn't. In his mind he countered himself again, thinking,  _you know that's not true. You want to trust Shadow Akechi just as much as you want to fu—_ The left side of Ryuji's brain didn't finish the end of that sentence on the account of bumping into Ann because he was so distracted. 

"Ryuji?" Ann spoke, "You okay? You seem... out of it." The others turned their heads to look back at Ryuji and Ann who were behind them, curious about the situation.

The blonde nodded to dispell Ann's worries. "Yeah, yeah, just thinkin'."

"Didn't know you did that, Ryuji," Morgana replied, peeking out from Akira's bag. Ryuji shot Morgana a glare while Ann, Futaba, and Akira spared a snicker. Makoto sighed as if observing the antics of children and crossed her arms.

"I think we all have the same thing on our minds," announced Makoto. Akira nodded for her to continue. "Shadow Akechi." She stared at everyone, locking eyes with each person to make sure her assumption was correct. The hand that was in Ryuji's left pocket twitched for a reason Ryuji didn't understand and couldn't be bothered to figure out at that exact moment. Right now right brain was working, even if it wasn't too good at its job. At this point, they had stopped walking completely, despite still being on the sidewalk. "I think it's fair to consider his motives before we take any course of action."

Morgana nodded in agreement, slightly shaking Akira's bag. "Makoto's right, but I think we should discuss this with Yusuke as well. It'd be inconvenient to text him everything we say and then wait for his own response. Speaking of that, Akira and Yusuke have to switch shifts soon so we should head back to Leblanc, get things sorted out and get stuff going." No one had any argument to Morgana's words so they went to ahead to do just that. Some five minutes later they were on a subway train to Yongen-Jaya where they were forced to stand and be squished in between people since it was now rush hour.  On the subway they heard some minor news about Okumura's mental shutdown, prompting Haru in a brief period of depression on their way back to Leblanc.

Akira had pulled ahead of the others now and was in front with Ann and Makoto behind him. Behind those two were Ryuji and Futaba and behind them was Haru. Morgana was riding in Akira's bag as always and hadn't said anything since the subway train. They reached the small opening where Leblanc's entrance could be reached and Akira had opened the door but froze in the entrance, raising suspicions for the others. Impatient, Ryuji shouldered his way past the black-haired male and into Leblanc but stopped just a meter in. Sitting in a booth, drinking coffee and chatting with Yusuke, was Goro Akechi.

Back from the hospital.

* * *

 

Yusuke was the first to notice Akira, Ryuji, and the others and beckoned for them to come, but they didn't budge until Sojiro grumbled that they were blocking the door. It was as if they had been on pause and someone had just pressed the play button, Ryuji rushed forward, followed by Akira and the rest who were all full of questions. Akechi was so surprised he nearly spilled his coffee, still burning hot, on himself. Yusuke suggested going to the attic to discuss things and no one objected. Once there, everyone fired their questions, blurring into a mass of noise that the brunette couldn't decipher. Agitated, he demanded them to calm down and then took a sip of his coffee as if this was a normal peaceful day.

Akechi set his coffee down on the thick banister by the staircase and cleared his throat to begin talking. "I'm going to assume you all have questions."

"Yes, we have questions!" Ann spoke, surprising all of them by being first to speak.

Yusuke tentatively stepped back to exclude himself from the conversation but Futaba caught him. "Where ya heading, Yusuke?" The artist exhaled in annoyance and rejoined the mass, hoping no one would ask for an explanation from him.

"Well..." Akechi took another swig of his coffee. The calm demeanor he did all of it was bugging Ryuji. He was being fake again. "Fire away then."

Makoto was first. "You woke up much earlier than expected. Why?"

"That, I don't know the answer to," he replied, a crack of stress appearing in his mask. Ryuji let a small frown accompany his features once he spotted it. "I... don't exactly remember what happened before I fainted."

"Doctor said it was sleep depriv... or whatever you call it and malnourishment or somethin'," Ryuji informed him. He could see the small cringe the detective allowed himself to do before taking another sip of his coffee. Ryuji could see his hand shaking as he set the coffee mug down again.

"You were the last person I saw, Sakamoto-kun," Akechi replied. "You asked if I was okay if I remember correctly."

Akira glanced at him and so did Makoto. "Last person...?" Makoto murmured. "Is that true, Ryuji?"

The blonde scratched the back of his neck sheepishly and fought to keep his face from heating up when he took into account that he was the last person Akechi saw or at least a person he knew before he collapsed. "Yeah... Akechi looked like shit that mornin' so y'know..."

Akechi's face hardened as he took another sip. Wasn't that like his twentieth in the span of five minutes? He must be burning his tongue or something taking in the scalding coffee every fifteen seconds. It obviously bothered him that he didn't look picture perfect every second of the day. On the other hand, Ryuji finally allowed himself to admit that Akechi's occasional vulnerability was a just a little bit hot. His left brain continued to torture him for not being more specific or truthful in his realization by overriding his will and sprinkling light blush on his cheeks.

"Are you... blushing, Ryuji?" Akira asked, his tone painfully taunting. The blonde male's eyes widened at the suggestion and stamped his foot in annoyance.

"N-No!" he exclaimed defiantly. "Look, that's not the point, man!" Akira chuckled, sprouting smiles of amusement from the others as well, failing to notice the blush on Akechi's face as well. He hid behind his coffee mug as the other poked fun at Ryuji. Morgana finally wiggled himself free from Akira's bag but fell on the floor, crying out from pain.

"Ow..." he groaned, rolling around and setting himself upright. "Anyway, I have some questions for Akechi. At the hospital, Akira and I, we, er came to visit you..."

"I'm flattered," Akechi cut in.

"...and we heard some strange stuff."

Akechi knit his eyebrows. "What do you mean, Morgana?"

"Ryuji and I heard it as well," Yusuke muttered, speaking up for the first time since the conversation had commenced. "You... made a demand for us to murder you."

"Yeah," Ryuji added. "It was real creepy too. You even opened your eyes and stuff. Your pupils were gone, dude."

Akechi choked on his coffee, and Yusuke stepped forward immediately to assist him. "I... I... No, that's illogical. Care to say that again?"

"We were at the part where you asked us to kill you," Akira reminded him. Akechi twitched for a second and Yusuke pried the coffee cup out of his grip and excused himself to return the empty cup downstairs. "You don't seem very comfortable with that."

"Why would I ask for you to kill me?" Akechi mumbled, not so much to the others but more or less to himself. Makoto shot Akira a look and Akira nodded.

"I think you deserve to know something," Makoto began. Akechi looked up, frozen to his seat as he awaited the news. "It may be hard to believe but if you are a persona user like you say you are, I think it would be reasonable to tell you that you have a palace."

Akechi paled drastically, heeding concern from Ryuji who almost stepped forward like Yusuke did to ask if he was okay. Yusuke had come back now, just in time to hear the end of Makoto's sentence. Akechi's fists were clenched so tight his knuckles were white as he took deep breaths to process the news. Ryuji took a quiet step towards the brunette in case he was about to snap. He slowly put himself back together and relaxed his tense muscles, shooting the others a reassuring smile that Ryuji didn't find reassuring.

"Thank you for telling me," Akechi said slowly and as calm as possible. He stood up. "If you don't mind... I-I'd like to go home," he muttered, passing by Yusuke and heading down the stairs. They waited for the sound of Akechi saying goodbye to Sojiro and thanking for the coffee before closing the door and once they heard it, they shifted uncomfortably, each feeling a little guilty for shaking up the boy so much.The Phantom Thieves let him go, deciding it was for the best and it'd be better to let him have some time to process the news rather than shoot more questions at him. They all turned to each other, ready to debate their next course of action.

"What do you think this means?" Ann asked, crossing her arms. Akira tugged at a curl hanging above his forehead, a habit that he happened to act on whenever he was going to speak or after he spoke.

"That Akechi obviously doesn't know anything about this palace or the strange hospital occurrences," Akira explained. "Which means only one thing."

Haru spoke up for the first time throughout the whole entire meeting. "What does it mean, Akechi-kun?"

"This is the work of Shadow Akechi."


	6. Yusuke Struggles to Get out of his Dorm; Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yusuke heads out to visit Akechi and to his dismay, Ryuji joins him as well. They find that (in Ryuji's words) "Akechi looked like shit" and proceeded to cheer him up in their own... strange... ways.

Yusuke stared at the white box in his hands, which was delicately wrapped in vintage blue ribbon. It contained a set of brown mugs, for coffee obviously, since that was the only think Yusuke was aware Akechi liked. It bothered him, not knowing much about Akechi. He wanted to get closer to the brunette, know the real him that existed somewhere under that "perfect prince" coating. He wanted to find the Akechi that cried under a willow tree and leaned on his shoulder. He wanted to find the Akechi lying in a hospital bed who looked so real and human like he could reach out and touch his heart and feel his pain. If only Akechi would share something else with him besides that artificial smile.

He stared at the box, running over every scenario in his head that could end wrong, that could end with Akechi rejecting his present, end with Akechi rejecting his company, Akechi rejecting  _him_. His hands were shaking, his knees were weak, and he wanted to step away from the door and rethink his whole entire life and major life decisions. He had never felt like this before. This nervous, this excited, this nauseous. He'd never felt this overwhelming tide of emotion that was crashing over him wave after wave after wave. He took a deep breath and strengthened his posture. It wasn't going to get better until he stepped out the door, so he took a step forward, took one hand of the box and placed it on the doorknob. Slowly, he turned the brass knob and pulled open the door to find himself staring at an empty hallway. His heartbeat was pounding in his ears as he took a step into the hallway and closed the door behind him.

Yusuke congratulated himself. He had gotten outside, that's what counts. Then he felt an upsetting desire to walk back inside and hide in his room forever. It was a painfully slow process of forcing himself to take small steps to reach the outside of the Kosei Dorms, but by the time he did he was more comfortable and got to the subway at a further efficient speed. He sat on a subway, lucky to have found a seat on the crowded train car and stared hard at his box the whole ride. By the time he got to the district of Tokyo housing Akechi's apartment building, he could clearly envision the box in front of him, haunting him, even if it was in his hands and he was staring straight forward, unable to see the box. He was getting there, above ground and soon he would make the walk to Akechi's apartment. He was so close, he couldn't turn back now. There is no way he's turning back now, he told himself as he ventured up the escalator and out into the street.

It was only just his luck that a familiar blonde moron would be in this part of town as well.

Yusuke heard Ryuji's voice before he saw him. Heard the sound of his name ringing in his ears as Ryuji barreled towards him from across the street. He was grinning and carrying a plastic bag filled with what looked like white boxes full of something Yusuke wasn't sure he wanted to figure out. Possibly out of instinct, Yusuke wrapped himself around the box to protect it from potential impact but thankfully Ryuji slowed to a walk by the time he got to him. Yusuke eased once he was convinced the mugs were safe and then progressed to ask Ryuji why he was here.

"Ryuji... I wasn't expecting you to be here as well," Yusuke started. "If you don't mind the question, why are you here?" Ryuji started walking, forcing the blue-haired male to start walking as well.

Ryuji hummed for a while, thinking of excuses. "Well... I... er... was going... to uh... check out a new restaurant! Yeah, a new, er, restaurant opened up and I... wanted to check it out!" Yusuke blinked, sparing a glance at him. While it wasn't a very believable story, it would make sense as to why Ryuji was here. Yusuke admitted to himself he would only believe the story because he hoped that Ryuji wasn't heading to the same place he was.

Yusuke took a brief glimpse at the bag Ryuji was holding which minorly piqued his interest. "What is that bag for then?"

Wide-eyed and blushing, Ryuji shifted the bag out of Yusuke's few. "It's... cake. For, er... after eating at the restaurant." Yusuke's suspicion grew slightly, crushing his hopes even more.

"You're going to eat a cake all by yourself?" Ryuji nodded and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly like he always does when he's nervous or under pressure. "It looks like a big cake. I assume you're going to save some as leftovers, correct?"

"Yeah, leftovers..." Ryuji drifted off, looking away from Yusuke.

"Why are there other boxes too? Are you eating more than one cake?" he said, continuing to interrogate the other as he leaned over to get another glance at the bag.

The blonde leaned away from him and hid the bag behind his back. "Dude, why do you care?" Then finally he noticed the box Yusuke was holding. "What's in the box?" The artist finally turned his attention back to the white box covered in hand-wrapped blue ribbon which was full of coffee mugs he was planning to give to Akechi as a gift. Yusuke looked away, hiding the light blush on his cheeks.

"It's coffee mugs," Yusuke mumbled in complete honesty. He didn't have the energy to make an excuse now that his nerves were at a state of unrest. Ryuji raised an eyebrow, a little curious as to why Yusuke would be carrying around a box of coffee mugs. "...they're for Akechi."

"Oh," he grunted in absolute and utter surprise. It was no secret now that Ryuji had been planning to go to Akechi's apartment as well, now that he knew where it was. It was Sunday which would've given him a free day to talk to Akechi in private excluding activities in Mementos. He was significantly disappointed that Yusuke had wanted to see him too, which would make this visit less 1 on 1 and more 1 on 2. He had even bought a cake and some ramen (a rather odd combination he admitted to himself) to eat with Akechi. The only good thing that might come out of this is not having any leftover cake to carry home.

"You're going to see him too, aren't you, Ryuji?" the artist asked softly. There was no point in lying anymore, so the blonde just nodded. "I suppose we'll see him together, then." Internally, Yusuke was screaming at Ryuji to go away. It had taken him fifteen minutes to get out the door, and half an hour to get out of the dorms because he had been so nervous. He wasn't going to have all his effort ruined by a reckless imbecile who didn't even feel the same way he did about Akechi.

But that got Yusuke thinking. What did Ryuji feel for Akechi that would prompt him to do this? If this was a group thing where everyone had pitched in to come visit Akechi (which he doubted Ryuji would agree to anyway, considering the boy's standpoint towards Akechi, at least what Yusuke thought was his standpoint), he'd be seeing the rest of the group. Not just Ryuji. Would that mean Yusuke had competition? _Competition for what?_ he asked himself. But he already knew the answer, just wasn't ready to believe it. The two walked in silence, mainly because Yusuke didn't want to say anything to Ryuji and Ryuji didn't know what to say to Yusuke so they both chose to say nothing and nullify all possible conversations.

They reached the apartment building, and Ryuji opened the door since Yusuke was carrying the box of coffee mugs with two hands even though Yusuke could've easily opened it himself. Yusuke didn't complain, just quietly thanked him and started towards the elevator. Ryuji pressed the button for that too, slightly irritating the other but he said nothing. He selected the fourth floor on the elevator panel and they waited for the doors to close. Once they did, it was the two boys with two presents, awkwardly standing in an elevator. If Ryuji's heart wasn't pounding a million miles a minute he could almost make a joke about this. The doors opened just moments later and Yusuke made a move to step out but was intercepted rudely by Ryuji who's excitement couldn't be concealed anymore.

Yusuke kept the straight look on his face from dissolving into a scowl as he walked behind the other who was practically skipping to 4H. Of course, he wasn't actually skipping, just walking fast enough that Yusuke could imagine he was skipping. The thought made the corners of his lips twitch. Ryuji Sakamoto, skipping. They soon reached Akechi's door and Yusuke knocked, only because he had shoved Ryuji away in time. The artist hadn't meant to play rough, but he wanted to be the first person Akechi saw when he opened the door. Slowly, Yusuke knocked on the door three times, took a deep breath and waited for the sound of Akechi's voice.

He was worried for a second, that the brunette wasn't home, but he heard him then. Approaching the door, stating he'd be there in a minute. Akechi must've looked through the peephole, because while Yusuke could feel his presence behind the door, Akechi was taking an awfully long time to open it. Finally, he opened the door, revealing a smiling and carefully composed Goro Akechi. He looked minor surprised though as if he's never had guests in his life.

"Er, Kitagawa-kun, Sakamoto-kun... I didn't know you'd be stopping by," Akechi spoke, his voice slightly shaking. That wasn't a lie. Akechi most definitely thought no one in a million years would be bothered to stop by his apartment to really do anything whether it was a genuine visit, or there were ulterior motives behind it. If he met anyone anywhere, it was usually him leaving to go to someplace else, not someone stopping by to see him.

Ryuji chuckled from behind annoying tall Yusuke, "That's why it's called a surprise, dude." Yusuke nodded in agreement, looking away from the brunette, his voice suddenly gone.

He swallowed the lump in his throat before he politely asked, "May we come in?" Akechi looked behind him as if scanning for some error in his apartment before answering "yes" and stepping away from the doorway to let the two boys in.

"I-I apologize, this visit was unexpected. I would've cleaned up if I knew you were coming," Akechi apologized, despite the fact that his apartment was next to spotless. Ryuji's eyebrows raised to the roof. If this was what Akechi considered a mess, he was scared to see what he considered clean. Compared to Ryuji's slovenly room, this was picture perfect. Just like Akechi and his fake smile which he conveniently just happened to be wearing right now. For some reason, this smile was harder to see through compared to other times, maybe Akechi was putting more effort into looking genuine despite the fact that it was very obvious he had never had visitors before and had never intended to.

Ryuji set the bag on the table and took a deep breath to reclaim some of the energy he'd lost earlier. Akechi tilted his head, minorly curious about the bag and the ribbon-wrapped gift box. "You brought...?"  
  
"Presents," Yusuke said, setting the box down next to Ryuji's bag of cake and ramen. "Forgive us if we genuinely gave you a scare, Akechi-san, we were just eager to talk to you."

"Talk...?" Akechi sounded slightly suspicious now. Presents he had received from fangirls, but it's not like they stopped at his door, requested to come into his apartment, and set them down on his coffee table so they could  _talk_. Then he realized Yusuke called him "Akechi-san" which was strange considering they were the same age. It was basically the equivalent of calling him Mr. Akechi, which Yusuke seemed to have a habit of doing. Calling people formally. "Also, you can just call me Akechi, Kitagawa-kun, or Goro if it suits you better."

Yusuke blinked, staring at him as if he was crazy. "Akechi?" he murmured and found that he liked the feeling of the detective's name on his tongue. "Then please, call me Yusuke," he petitioned, simply because he wanted to hear the sound of his personal name out of Akechi's mouth. Akechi smiled, and it looked real. The butterflies that had somehow found their way in Yusuke's stomach fluttered and the blue-haired boy felt like fainting. His cheeks felt warm now, he couldn't hide his red face, so he just stood there, staring at smiling Akechi as if he could do that for the rest of his life.

He'd kill (Ryuji) to be the one to see that smile every single day. 

Just kidding.

Or maybe he wasn't.

Ryuji had grown tired of the intimate silence mainly because he wanted to have his own intimate silence with Akechi that did not include Yusuke standing there with them. He let out a loud, obnoxious sigh, drawing the attention of the detective prince and breaking Yusuke out of his fantastical trance and plopped down on the sofa. "So, Goro, whatcha doin'?" he asked as if he'd known the guy for his whole entire life and this was just a normal everyday encounter except the teeny tiny fact that it wasn't. He hadn't even realized he'd said "Goro" as if he was best friends with the guy. It was more common to address a person you didn't know too well by their last name, but Ryuji didn't do that. He hadn't even realized he'd said "Goro" at all, which had a confused Akechi standing in his own living room gawking at Ryuji with a perplexed expression. 

The blonde looked up and glanced at Akechi, unsuspecting of any major surprise occurring. "What?" 

Akechi shook his head, "Nothing." He then made a move to walk around the sofas and come to sit next to Ryuji. Yusuke followed, sitting on the other side of Akechi. The brunette glanced at the presents the boys had brought and bit his lip, thinking about the possibilities. Years of mistrust and isolation didn't end now as Akechi contemplated what the two had brought and in what ways it could kill him. "Do you mind if I ask what's in the box?" Ryuji grinned, leaning forward to grab his bag and take out several boxes. Akechi recognized four of them as boxes of ramen, but the larger box was still in question.

"It's a stupid combination, I know, I know, but I got some cake and ramen," he informed the others. "I thought you might be hungry so..."

"What happened to the restaurant you said you were going to go to?" Yusuke asked with a painfully innocent tone laced with smugness. Ryuji shot the other a flat look as the boy just smiled coyly and leaned back into the sofa. Akechi just furrowed his eyebrows and looked between the two, trying to figure out what exactly was happening between the two.

Ryuji hissed at the other, demanding he lay off. "Shut up Yusuke! You're the one who bought him coffee mugs!"

"Ryuji!" Yusuke fired back. "At least I got him a present that will last for more than a day and isn't going to be  _digested_!"

"Are you saying my gift is stupid?"

"Yes, your present is ridiculous!"

"Well, no one asked you to show up at the same place I was goin' to!"

"I didn't show up at the same pace you were going to! You ran into me!"

"Same difference!"

"It's not the same thing!"

"Says who!"

"Says I!"

"Who even buys someone coffee mugs?!"

"Someone who genuinely cares about another human being and has an actual sense of order so they don't buy such a dense mixture of foods such as cake and ramen!"

"Who says I don't care?"

"I said!"

"Well, you're lyin'!"

The two continued to yell at each other, arguing over which present was more meaningful and who actually came to Akechi's apartment out of legitimate concern. They got so out of hand that they were standing up and shoving each other before Akechi finally intervened by pushing the two apart and demanding for them to  _calm the fuck down_. It was the first time either of them had heard Akechi curse and damn well did both of them find it incredibly hot.

Ryuji exchanged his insult for Yusuke in turn for the opportunity to stare at Akechi's backside while he turned to lecture Yusuke (though it's obvious he was staring at the guy's ass, this is Ryuji we're talking about here). Yusuke condemned himself to the same thing when Akechi finished reprimanding him and turned to rebuke Ryuji. The desire to paint Akechi grew during those few minutes and both of their faces were bright red, from what, Akechi wasn't aware and didn't have the energy to figure it out at the moment. He just stumbled backward and fell on the sofa. The will to take a nap slowly swallowing him whole.

"You okay, man?" the blonde inquired. "Er, sorry... for y'know,  _that_. I.."

"I provoked him, it's my fault, Akechi," Yusuke continued. "Please forgive me."

Akechi looked at them and let out a deflated sigh. "You don't need to apologize for anything... I'm just... not feeling too good today," he explained. "Thank you for coming over. If I must tell the truth, I was hoping for a distraction today." Suddenly filled with worry, Yusuke sat next to him and grabbed his hand, holding it between his.

Ryuji laughed sheepishly, "That wasn't the type of distraction we wanted to pull off..." The brunette smiled weakly at the other and as an immediate reaction, Ryuji sat beside him, resting his hand on Akechi's shoulder.

Yusuke squeezed his hand as a comforting gesture and asked: "Can you tell us what happened, Akechi?" 

He exhaled deeply as if he had just been shot and was struggling to breathe. Ryuji shifted closer to him, waiting for his next words. "I...I don't want to put you at fault it's just... yesterday... Yesterday was just... I-I fell unconscious in a subway station, asked for you two to kill me, and now I learn I have a palace I can't even  _enter_." He felt Yusuke squeeze his hand again and felt himself leaning towards the other lie his head on his shoulder. Ryuji knew that this wasn't the time to feel jealous (he didn't even know why he was feeling jealous) but seeing the simple subconscious action set down a premonition that Akechi and Yusuke had previously shared something like this. It made Ryuji feel like an outsider and it also made him want to have something of his own with Akechi.

An idea popped into Ryuji's head. It might be a stupid one, but it may make him feel slightly better. "Do you, er... want to see it?"

The detective prince turned his head to look at him. "See what?"

"Your palace."

Yusuke bit his lip, trying to determine Akechi's reaction. Truthfully, he didn't know the other well enough but a small guessing game might minimize the impact of the reaction. Akechi took a deep breath and sat up, and for some reason, Yusuke's shoulder suddenly felt cold.

"Yes... I-I, I want to see my palace," Akechi whispered.

Ryuji nodded and stood, taking out his phone. The box of coffee mugs, the box of cake, and the packets of ramen had been forgotten now. All that mattered currently was cheering up Akechi, or at least getting him to open up further to him. Ryuji didn't exactly understand these feelings or knew what they meant, but they were pushing him to do this, and willfully he opened up the MetaNav app and requested to go to Goro Akechi's Prison of Isolation and Sorrow. Two emotions Ryuji promised himself that he would rid the detective prince of, once and for all.

 


	7. Meeting Your Shadows is not a Good Way to Cheer Up; Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I think Crow meets Shadow Akechi serves as a self-explanatory summary.

This was the first time any of the Phantom Thieves had seen Akechi's persona outfit since they had yet to start Sae's palace. It was a strange outfit, regal, but out there. To be fair Ryuji was slightly surprised about how comfortable his clothing looked compared to everyone else who (besides Morgana who was... well... a cat..ish thing) wore tight yet flexible clothing for fighting. He merely supposed it was for armory purposes but looking at Akechi's comfy white pants made Ryuji miss his jeans terribly. Akechi's outfit was simple with white pants and a white shirt sporting golden tassels, red cuffs with gold buttons, and golden threads along the front of his shirt with a red accent. His mask was slightly unusual, as it was long and sharp, like a beak almost.

This mask would later inspire his code name, which was quite fitting considering what he was supposedly destined to do in the future.

"Whoa... dude, Fox, look," Ryuji exclaimed, jabbing his thumb in Akechi's direction as he admired (in his own, uh, Ryuji way) Akechi's outfit. Yusuke turned to look at Akechi and couldn't deny the outfit was truly magnificent considering many factors, one of them being Ryuji and Yusuke wearing jumpsuits covered in black and white strips, fulfilling Shadow Akechi's warning that they'd be considered inmates. Luckily, they wore no chains like the shadows stumbling out of the bus and through the yard did and strangely still had their guns and blades with them. He nodded, showing that he acknowledged Ryuji's point and turned his attention back to the large prison facility.

He recalled Morgana's instructions on their mission yesterday, that when they came back out they would find another exit in case a situation like this happened where they switched their roles of guards for prisoners. They found one on the edge of the premise, halfway around the fence on the other side. It was a secret tunnel covered by a blanket of fake grass that could be easily removed. The tunnel led to the interior of the prison, near Shadow Akechi's cell which was perfect since Akechi's shadow had agreed to assist them in stealing his treasure and changing his heart. 

Akechi shifted to examine the clothing of his company, and equally expressed his surprise to their jumpsuits as they did to his persona outfit. "Why are you...?" he began, but Ryuji cut him off with an exaggerated sigh.

"So, uh, long story short. We ran into your Shadow, made a deal, and now we're inmates. It's not permanent though, we'll be back to normal once we get inside," the blonde explained. "Let's get goin' actually. We found an entrance over here, follow us." Akechi didn't reply, his eyes downcast at the ground as if in thought. When the two boys started to walk, he followed behind them but kept his eyes averted and avoided starting a conversation.

Truth be told, alongside many other things, Akechi already knew he had a palace. As a persona user, he was curious about the ordeal and explored it himself. He didn't know that persona users weren't supposed to have palaces, so he kind of assumed it was a normal thing but was up to investigate the place by all means necessary. Like the Phantom Thieves, he ran into his Shadow self as well the first time he entered, and the two had a nice long chat about a certain bastard of a father who Akechi was working under only to betray him later. The detective found it very disturbing to find that he and his shadow shared very different points on the matter. His shadow was hellbent on reminding him that he was a mistake and everything he did was a mistake, which meant his plan wasn't going to work. It only made Akechi angrier and more determined to have Shido under his will.

He'd known about the palace for a solid month now and ever since he's had a strange decline in sleep and was finding it incredibly difficult to think straight. He didn't understand how, but his shadow was crawling into his subconscious and disturbing his cognition. Among other things, the upcoming heist alongside the Phantom Thieves to change Sae's heart was bringing more stress as well and a week of sleepless nights. Akechi needed to smooth out all the wrinkles in his plan before the end, and just the thought of it gave him a mix of excitement and disgust. It made him nauseous but he bared the mix of emotions every time he saw them. Excitement at the possibility of getting closer to his goal, and disgust as the means at which he had to do it.

He didn't know anything personal about the Phantom Thieves yet, and they knew anything about his background either. They were high school students like him who were driven to some type of justice because of a turn of events that Akechi believed started with Akira's appearance at Shujin. He had yet to connect all the dots, but he was getting very close. It still struck close to home to think a group of high school misfits would be behind the type of work the Phantom Thieves did. It slightly reminded him of himself, except more self-righteous. Akechi shuddered at the sudden flash of jealousy and pushed the thoughts away, determined to think about anything else.

Out of the corner of his eye, Yusuke noticed Akechi's tremor and frowned, wondering if Akechi was disturbed by his palace. He continued to keep his eye on the brunette out of concern for him since this was a new experience for him. Ryuji was eerily cheerful, with a wild grin on his face as they dashed towards the hiding place of the secret entry tunnel. It unsettled both Yusuke and Akechi for different reasons. Akechi was plainly paranoid and Yusuke found it distasteful, thinking that Ryuji wasn't taking Akechi's state seriously. If Ann or Morgana were here, he was sure they would've reprimanded him or flicked his forehead and told him to pay attention. The blue-haired boy considered pinching Ryuji but ultimately didn't do anything, just half glared at him and continued to run.

They reached the tunnel and Ryuji did the honors, removing the blanket of grass and jumping down with a yelp of what Yusuke could only describe as joy. Yusuke allowed Akechi to go next but the brunette brushed it off and told Yusuke to go. The artist obliged and went down the hole as well. Akechi considered abandoning them in the Palace and allowing them to fend for themselves, but he was too early in the game and it'd be too suspicious. With a sigh, he went down the hole as well, covering the entrance to the tunnel with the grass mat before continuing downwards to meet the others. Yusuke led them through the tunnel now, with Akechi still behind them and Ryuji in between, but the blonde was purposely walking a bit slower until he was walking beside the bird-masked detective.

"So, whaddya think so far?" Ryuji asked, not even bothering to whisper. Yusuke took a sharp intake of breath and prepared himself for Ryuji's antics once again.

Akechi shifted, his eyes displaying surprise. "What do I think of what?"

"Y'know, the Palace," he reminded him. "Whaddya think?"

The brunette struggled to keep a straight face for a couple seconds, stuck between a frown and a smile of uncertainty. "I admit it's very interesting... My Palace, a prison, how laughable," he said with a chuckle. The quiet laugh sounded very controlled as if Akechi was trying to restrain himself from snapping at Ryuji. "I noticed, the shadows, they have chains?"

Ryuji nodded and in that moment, his outfit flickered. The detective blinked and Ryuji was back in his inmate garments, but he swore for a second Ryuji wore a mask similar to the front of a skull... "Yeah, Shadow you said he's keepin' them back so we can explore the palace easily," he informed him. Interesting... When Akechi entered, the shadows wore no chains, in fact, the shadows weren't even inmates at all. There were just guards at the entrance, forcing Akechi to sneak his way into his own palace. It was a bit unsettling considering this was  _his_ palace, but Shadow him wasn't up for making this easy for the brunette apparently. "Speakin' of that, Shadow Akechi's kinda unnerving. Right, Yusuke?"

The blue-haired boy nodded in agreement and further added his own input. "He had an aura of insanity around him. It was very disturbing," Yusuke said solemnly. The statement made Akechi wonder why the two weren't interrogating him right now. A shadow was a reflection of the person's darkest version of themselves, right? Why did they trust him enough to tell him this without any catches?

"You don't think I'm insane, do you?" The detective prince suddenly asked, startling both of them. Yusuke remained silent, leaving Ryuji to make up the answer. The blonde scratched the back of his neck like he always does whenever he's under pressure and avoided looking at Akechi.

"Well... no." The kicked puppy look on Akechi's face made Ryuji further explain. "You're... odd. Yeah, you're just a bit odd. Not crazy or anything if that's the answer you want."

"I'd appreciate a straight and honest answer, Sakamot-"

"Shhh, we use code names here!" Ryuji proclaimed, cutting him off. "You'll learn the others' names later, but I'm Skull and," he gestured to Yusuke, "he's Fox."

"Oh," Akechi mumbled. "I apologize."

"Nah, you didn't know."

"Can you reevaluate your answer now and give me a valid one?"

"Yes, no, maybe? I dunno and it doesn't matter."

"Yu—I mean, Fox, do you think I'm insane too?" Yusuke tensed, thinking the subject was over, but clearly, Akechi wanted a straightforward answer from at least one of them. He didn't know how to reply, but he was following Akechi's thought process and understood why he was asking. Shadow Akechi, sure, he looked like he had many... many... many... er, issues but Akechi... He could be a bit plastic sometimes, no, all the time but he surely doesn't share the same mental state as his shadow. At least, Yusuke hoped he didn't. It'd make determining his feelings morally right or not much more difficult.

They walked in a brief moment of anxious silence and the artist could feel Akechi's eyes boring into the back of his head, filling him with guilt until he finally gave the other an answer. "Yes," he swore he could feel Akechi's heart drop into his stomach and he hastily continued to clear away any negative assumptions. Ryuji was glaring at him, he needed to fix this, fast. "A shadow is the reflection of a person's true nature, so by those rules, yes, I'd have to say you're insane—" Ryuji footsteps were just a bit quicker than before, he was going to punch him, "—but I truly do want you to prove those standards wrong. I will admit what Ryuji has said is true, you are odd and something about you is slightly off, everyone has their flaws, yet you look more honest than I assume you mean to be."

He was half-waiting for the impact of Ryuji's fist meeting the back of his head, but nothing happened. Ryuji just huffed and slowed down, Yusuke didn't know why, but he didn't want to sneak a peek in case he caught the probably distraught look on Akechi's face. He knew it would break him. It'd be better to stay quiet now.

"Thank you for your  _honest_ opinion, Fox." The way Akechi stretched Yusuke's code name made the artist think the detective was trying to point something out to Ryuji. Bashfully, Ryuji mumbled something that sounded like an apology and looked away as Akechi released his wrist.

After Yusuke's input, Ryuji had indeed been stepping up to sock the Emperor, but Akechi had grabbed his wrist and yanked back, giving him a reprimanding glare that served its purpose. He backed off, but couldn't deny the anger still a flame inside him. The expression on Akechi's face as Yusuke spoke looked broken and Ryuji swore he could've thought of a better way to dish out something like that to Akechi. Yusuke was too blunt and Ryuji could've heard the sound of Akechi's heart breaking from miles away—figuratively speaking. Annoyingly, he couldn't deny some part of Yusuke's answer was right, and that was what really bothered him.

They reached the end of the tunnel where another ladder was pinned to the wall to enter an empty cell that was always open. By the time they were out and had covered the hole, Ryuji and Yusuke's outfits were back to normal. Ryuji's outfit was all black besides a dash of red and yellow, with matching black jacket and pants with knee pads, a red ascot, combat boots, a pair of yellow gloves, and a skull mask. Yusuke's outfit was very interesting, sporting a black jumpsuit with a high collar and striped sash as well as knee high motorcycle type white boots,  and a kitsune-style mask covering half of his face. Their code names made much more sense now.

"So what will we do now?" Akechi asked, crossing his arms.  
  
"Er..." Ryuji looked to Yusuke for help. He hadn't considered this part. It'd be unfair to explore without the rest of the team but at the same time what exactly were they supposed to do in his palace without the others and still show Akechi something. It has to be something they've seen already but... Wait.

Yusuke shifted uncomfortably. He assumed this was Ryuji's way of revenge for making him answer Akechi's question first. He didn't know, the first thing he considered was showing him the area they already explored but those were crawling with shadows, handcuffed or not. Plus everything was bound to arise more questions they probably couldn't answer. Questions possibly about the scenery, what they were supposed to symbolize, why some were guards and others were inmates and... "I think it's fair that you meet Shadow Akechi," he responded thoughtfully.

"Oh, yeah, totally forgot about him," Ryuji commented. Akechi narrowed his eyes and inclined his head, staring at Ryuji dumbfoundedly.

"We're just talking about him five minutes ago."

The blonde rolled his eyes. "Get off my case, alright dude? Let's go boys!"

Akechi and Yusuke shared a look and sighed before taking off behind Ryuji. As they dashed through hallways, the runner realized something startlingly disappointing. Akira had the palace map and Futaba wasn't here to scout out one with her persona. Hey, if they kept going they were bound to run into Akechi's shadow some time. Just... maybe... not in the next couple of minutes. 

Both Ryuji and Yusuke had forgotten about Shadow Akechi's warning about their cognitive selves, and Akechi wasn't aware which made their roaming of the place, out in the open Ninety-nine-point-nine-nine percent of the time. They ran into a couple of shadows and saw firsthand how insanely overpowered Akechi's attacks happened to be. His persona, Robin Hood seemed to look just as princely as Akechi did, making Ryuji feel slightly insecure. What really sucked was that no one here had healing powers and they just had to rely on medicine to heal themselves.

They were close now, Yusuke could recognize some of the hallways on which they had taken to get to Shadow Akechi's cell. Funny enough, none of them expected the person around the corner.

It was Akira. And he was smiling devilishly with a black guard hat tipped low over his dark curls. The three had immediately retreated around the corner, but cognitive Akira seemed to know they were there. He wore his mask instead of glasses, which would've tricked Ryuji and Yusuke beforehand until they made the deal with Shadow Akechi. 

"Shit," Ryuji muttered. Akechi knit his eyebrows in confusion.

"What's wrong? Why is Akira here?" he inquired, peeking around the corner to get another glance at him.

"Uh, his code name is Joker by the way, and that's not him..." the blonde replied, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms.

"Then who is it?"

Yusuke took over the duty of answering Akechi's questions. "Cognitive Akira. It's how Shadow Akechi sees him. He said previously that they'd be roaming around looking for intruders. We forgot about them and the danger they posed to this visit. According to your shadow, they're very powerful and fighting them without the others wouldn't serve us well in this case."  
  
"Interesting... So I see Akira as a guard... A guard of what, though?"

Ryuji shrugged, "Who knows?"

"Are you three done?" a familiar voice asked, entering the conversation they never wanted him to enter. Simultaneously, they looked up to notice Cognitive Akira standing in front of them, his hands in his pockets. "You shouldn't be out of your cells. Who let you out?"  
  
"Does it matter?" The blonde shot back, stomping his foot. "Screw off before we wreck you!"

"That's not the way to talk, Sakamoto-san," Akira chuckled, stepping forward. Yusuke tensed, bracing himself for a fight. Ryuji and Akechi stepped back automatically. "Ah, Kitagawa-san, and..." he raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Goro?"

"Akira, hello," Akechi muttered. "It's nice to know you're here too," he continued sarcastically.

"You're dressed weirdly," he noted with a smirk. Ryuji's eyes widened, realizing something. Cognitive Akira didn't know Akechi wasn't his shadow, just like the shadows back in Kamoshida's palace saw Ann as Cognitive Ann. It was a stretch, but Cognitive people were basically kind of like shadows so of course, they functioned the same way.

"What, he can't get out every once and a while and play dress up?" Ryuji retorted. Akechi stayed silent, still extremely perplexed. Cognitive Akira let out a snort of amusement.

"I never said that. Goro just doesn't leave his cell often. Besides, what are you doing with him anyway? Are they holding you hostage, Goro?"

Akechi shook his head, finally catching on to what Ryuji was doing. "No... no, I actually just caught these two... I was going to dispose of them, but I think you can do that yourself."

Akira grinned, "Of course."

Yusuke shot Akechi a worried look and the brunette shook his head and mouthed, "Don't worry." Cognitive Akira didn't hesitate to start a battle but was quite surprised when Goro joined in as well. Nonetheless, he didn't go easy on them, and in several minutes all of them were at half-health, dizzy and panting. They were running out of medicine and Ryuji was beginning to hate this guy because he just wouldn't  _die_. Finally, with one of Akechi's overpowered attacks, Cognitive Akira crumbled and disappeared.

"Am I the only one who feels kinda bad about that?" Ryuji asked as they took a breather before they would continue to look for Shadow Akechi's cell.

"No, I feel bad too, Skull," Akechi lied, breathing heavily. "It's like we were actually killing Akira in real life..."

"I know," Yusuke mumbled. "It almost made me reluctant to hit him."

"No use talkin' bout it now, let's go," Ryuji commented.

They were lucky they didn't run into any more shadows, but when they reached the cell full of mist, Ryuji was beyond irritated, kicking the bars. "Open up, cuckoo," he demanded. The bars slid into the ground and the mist pulled slightly make some sort of tunnel. The three of them stepped in and the bars closed behind them. They entered the tunnel in a single file line and found Shadow Akechi sitting in a circle of mist, in his pile of chains, all colored differently. "Well Goro, this is Shadow Akechi. Shadow Akechi, this is Goro."

Both reality Goro and his shadow narrowed their eyes at Ryuji in disbelief. "We know, Sakamoto-kun," they stated concurrently. Ryuji shrugged, leaning against the wall once again, but there was no wall and Ryuji fell straight through the mist and landed on his butt. The other three held back their smiles of amusement as they watched him get up, grumbling something about imaginary walls and "Shadow Akechi's a bastard".

Said person's golden eyes were now trained on his counterpart, the smile on his face the epitome of crazy. "You haven't visited in awhile, did you need to bring your friends too?"

"We were here yesterday—" Ryuji started until he realized Akechi's shadow wasn't talking to him. The detective glared at him and didn't reply. Damnit, was he trying to blow his cover? Yusuke and Ryuji stared at him curiously. Shadow Akechi didn't push for an answer just asked another question.

"You'd serve the world well if you—"

"Shut up," Akechi ordered. His shadow merely chuckled and stood, the chains rippling around him and rising with him. The two had never heard him use such a harsh tone... The tone was off as well as if he was about to go ax murderer on his shadow self. "If only I could stab you right now."

"It'd just be the same, you'd die too, you know? Just, in a painful mental breakdown. Consider it their revenge," Shadow Akechi laughed. The other two watched silently, and with each reply, Ryuji's suspicion of Akechi rose and his understanding lessened.

In that moment, Akechi lost it, lunging after his shadow. Yusuke and Ryuji held him back as he yelled obscenities at him while he just cackled. Akechi struggled against their grip, wanting nothing but to tear his shadow self apart, even if he would die afterward. Ryuji yelled at him, demanding that he calm down, but the command went over his head as white noise. Finally, as a last-ditch attempt to get Akechi to calm down, Yusuke slapped him. The detective froze entirely in surprise but stopped fighting against them. 

"What the hell, Goro?" Ryuji shouted. "Calm the eff down." The brunette clenched his fist and exhaled deeply, glaring at his shadow with such tension that you could feel it resonating in the room. 

"You know, you should tell them," Shadow Akechi started up again. Yusuke placed his hand on Akechi's shoulder in case he snapped again. "You're lonely enough, but that sick dependency on him has to go..." Akechi's hand rested on his lightsaber, Yusuke shot Ryuji a look begging for help. "He's smarter than you. They're your last shot, Goro."

"No one asked you. You're not supposed to say anything. Remember, you're  _me_ _!_ " He yelled. His shadow merely chuckled, his golden eyes glowed, and the sick smile on his face grew larger.

"And you're me. And I wouldn't unsheathe that if I were you. You'd just be fulfilling my wishes," his shadow self fired back. "But framing is a talent, isn't it? Stealing hearts must one too, but it doesn't require much skill if hotheaded and oblivious can do it too. You wish you could do that too, Goro."

Ryuji turned his head and glared at Shadow Akechi. "Shut the hell up!"

Suddenly Akechi relaxed, his face blank but there was bloody murder written in his eyes. He turned sharply on his heel and headed towards the mist. "Fox, Skull, can we please leave?" Yusuke nodded and stepped forward to follow him. Ryuji narrowed his eyes at Shadow Akechi but turned to leave as well. They three didn't notice the gold chain around Shadow Akechi's left foot melt away into dust and collide with the mist, making it thinner. He grinned, his vision darkening as he watched them leave.

"Bad choice."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoooaaa!  
> didn't expect this much popularity so quickly rip  
> I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story :D
> 
> One thing, I'm going to be splitting this fic into two parts because there are two different arcs I want to do with this storyline. Part One is going to be Akechi's Palace and of course the Akechi/Ryuji (occasionally +Yusuke) arc, and then Part Two is going to be focusing on Akechi redeeming himself. The reason I'm doing this is because Part Two isn't necessarily part of the story, it's just something I wanted to add and you don't need to read it. 
> 
> Again, thanks for all the kudos and comments :3  
> I hope to be getting to some more of the core events of the plot soon :D


	8. Ryuji Fell Back to Square One; Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys finally eat the cake Ryuji bought and then Makoto initiates a meeting and Futaba provokes Ryuji, also provoking some unexpected events.

The return to the tunnel that would take them back to the outside perimeter of Akechi's palace was quiet and very tense with Akechi leading, and Skull and Fox in the back, who had made an unspoken decision that it was best to leave the brunette alone for awhile. Since all of them were low on energy and power, they tried their very best to avoid shadows and especially the cognitive Phantom Thieves who seemed to have randomly begun to appear more often. Akechi theorized that destroying Cognitive Akira had alerted the other Cognitions that there was some threat running around. He supposed since the Phantom Thieves communicated in real life, the Cognitions of them here did as well. It only made sense, he told himself.

You could see the tension in Akechi's shoulders for miles, and despite the silence, his heavy breathing was reminiscent of his previous anger-driven rampage. Skull was watching the other wearily while Fox was in his own world once again, possibly a technique to distract himself the tension. Smart, Skull should learn how to do that sometime, his thoughts seemed to be on things he didn't like way too often. He was known to either over think things or not think enough about things, which is why Morgana considered him "stupid" and "thick-headed". If Skull wasn't such a stubborn person, he'd probably admit he has processing issues too. Not as slow as Fox though.

For some reason, everything clicks immediately for Akira and Makoto and Morgana with everyone else (besides Yusuke) not far behind. Some times it takes Ryuji a minute and Morgana ridicules him for that small moment that it took for him to get it, but he's not necessarily slow-witted. He focused his stare on the detective prince again. Compared to Akechi though, he's probably the slowest when it comes to understanding him. Even Yusuke seems to know Akechi better. But he knew something was off about him, he knows everyone else can tell too, just aren't too focused on that right now. More about this random unspoken palace owned by Sae who no one knew about but Akechi until now.

Now that Ryuji thinks about it, his story was a bit iffy too. How come the Phantom Thieves never encountered the Black Mask guy but he did...? He said he got his Persona a month ago, but the scenario he put out didn't really seem worthy of an awakening. Akechi didn't seem like the type to be suppressed by anything, so a random attack by some rogue persona user causing an awakening doesn't seem realistic. And there's his reaction to his shadow. Ryuji may be slow but he wasn't that slow and he knew even Yusuke could tell that Akechi and his shadow seemed to have some type of history with each other. A bad one? Probably determined by his outburst, but they had history with each other.

They reached the tunnel with little problems, but Joker's third eye would've helped  _a lot_. Unfortunately, they made the stupid decision of going in without the others to try and cheer Akechi up which backfired and made Akechi more upset than before. Well then... Ryuji and Yusuke arguably aren't good at coming up with ideas anyway. At least, not to apply to real life situations. They could've taken him to the amusement park (Dome Town, was it?) or something. No, take him to his palace to see his creepy ass psychotic shadow. Wait-a-go Ryuji. Ten out of ten plan. Were you expecting rainbows and sunshine afterward?

But then again, why the hell does he care about cheering up Akechi? The shoulder-hair-lengthed brunette could go to hell. He was always questioning the Phantom Thieves' sense of "justice" and literally blackmailed them into working with him. Who does that? His palace definitely meant something though, Akechi was corrupt somehow and they were supposed to change his heart. The one thing that bothered him so much though, was that Akechi didn't  _look_ like a bad guy, or a corrupt adult, the ones they face down and stuff. Sure, his motives were questionable and there was always that ever-lasting off-ness about him, but maybe he was just like them. Played by the stupid adults, and in turn became corrupted like them.

It made sense. Yeah, it made sense. Wait, why is he defending Akechi again? Why did he even care about him? Ryuji didn't even understand his own brain anymore. Nothing makes sense, maybe he should just give up on the thought and do the simple thing and ask Akechi straightforward:

"What the hell is wrong with you, man?" Ryuji exclaimed when they arrived at Akechi's apartment again, throwing his hands up in the air. "You're not telling us somethin'!" Yusuke watched from the couch while Ryuji angrily paced around and Akechi glared at him with a blank face yet murder was etched in his eyes. "You realize teamwork requires trust right? You know something about Shadow Akechi! Spill it!" The brunette remained silent, ignoring Ryuji and bending down to grab Yusuke's box and move it to the kitchen. "Are you even listening to me?"  
  
Akechi paused in his stride, facing away from the blonde. "There's nothing to 'spill'. Why is it your concern? Chances we run into each other after this mess is next to zero," he answered. His tone seemed slightly condescending, convincing Ryuji he was doing something wrong. He kept walking and disappeared into the kitchen. Ryuji looked at Yusuke and the tall boy returned his stare. Ryuji tilted his head towards the table with the cake and the ramen as if saying,  _Do something_.

"Akechi," Yusuke called out. "Do you want..." he trailed off, cringing at the food on the table. "...to eat some cake? It'd be a waste if we didn't eat it." Akechi came back from the kitchen with the plastic smile and muttered a quiet, "Sure". Ryuji huffed and leaned back into the sofa. Maybe a straightforward question isn't the best strategy. And now Akechi was mad at him. He admits he can be painfully blunt sometimes, maybe even blunter than Yusuke but maybe complete blatant honesty wasn't the right solution to apply to this problem just yet.

The detective returned to the kitchen to get some paper plates, forks, and a knife to cut the cake with. The cake was a simple chocolate cake with vanilla icing sprinkled with cinnamon. It had taken nearly half of Ryuji's savings to buy this cake and he couldn't even come up with the reason why he did it. He just...  _did it_. He knew he had this recklessness to him, it was ingrained in his bones. But this type of recklessness was unexpected and more caring than Ryuji would've imagined this part of his personality to be, especially towards Akechi. He made the immediate decision not to let any of the other Phantom Thieves know he gave the brunette cake, but he knew Yusuke wasn't going to keep his mouth shut about this and he doubted Akechi would be without words either.

For the first few moments, the three ate the cake before simultaneously, their phones rang with news of texts, most likely from group chat. Akechi placed his plate on the coffee table and took his phone out, followed by Yusuke. Akechi's phone was nice and looked expensive. Rectangular, like Akira's phone, but silver and thinner with most likely a wider screen. Why Ryuji was paying attention to the appearance of Akechi's phone was beyond him, but when he realized he was doing it he switched his attention to balancing the plate of cake on one hand while he got his phone from his pocket with the other.

 **[Makoto]:** Akira, is Leblanc crowded today?

 **[Akira]:** It hardly ever is.

 **[Makoto]:** Good, we'll meet in Leblanc to discuss Sis' Palace.

 **[Ann]:** What time?

 **[Makoto]:** Akira?

 **[Akira]:** Now is good.

 **[Makoto]:** Akechi, you can tell us about Sis' Palace, correct?

 **[Akechi]:** Of course. But it will have to be over group chat.

 **[Ryuji]:** What, why?

 **[Akechi]:** I'm going somewhere soon.

Ryuji looked up to meet Akechi's eyes, but Akechi was focused on his phone. He scowled slightly, Akechi never mentioned going anywhere earlier.

 **[Ryuji]:** Where?

 **[Akechi]:** Niijima-san's Office.

 **[Makoto]:** Sis's office? May I ask why?

 **[Akechi]:** I'll inform you all later when we all speak in person. Right now, I must go.

 **[Ryuji]:** Hold up, we're right here and you haven't gotten up.

 **[Akira]:** "We're right here"?

 **[Yusuke]:** We're at Akechi's apartment.

 **[Ann]:** Eh! Why?

 **[Ryuji]:** Doesn't matter. We'll be there in ten.

 **[Yusuke]:** To bring him presents.

 **[Futaba]:** What type of presents?

 **[Ryuji]:** Yusuke, shut it and get up. We gotta go. You too, Goro. You're coming. 

 **[Futaba]:** You guys gotta give me details when you get here. When did Ryuji and Akechi get on a first name basis? Oooh...

 **[Akira]:** Did you do...

 **[Akechi]:** Please don't continue that sentence.

**[Futaba]:** _the nasty?_

**[Yusuke:]** "the nasty"?

 **[Ann]:** Sex, Yusuke, sex.

 **[Yusuke]:** Well then of course not. I would've seen.

 **[Akira]:** Oh, so it's a threesome.

 **[Ryuji]:** Futaba, I'm coming after your ass when I get to Leblanc.

 **[Futaba]:** Sorry, not interested.

 **[Yusuke]:** I believe you've been rejected.

 **[Makoto]:** I was gone for five minutes and I come back to a conversation about a threesome and "the nasty". Anyone care to explain?

 **[Futaba]:** Explaining might be life scarring for Yusuke's innocence.

 **[Akira]:** True.

 **[Haru]:** I... don't even want to ask. Just know that I'll be heading over to Leblanc soon, Makoto-chan!

 **[Futaba]:** I'm already there!

 **[Akira]:** Same.

 **[Futaba]:** Aye.

 **[Akechi]:** Akira, I request that you delete me from this group chat immediately.

 **[Akira]:** Why?

 **[Akechi]:** So I can cleanse myself from the disturbing images your peers have given me.

 **[Ryuji]:** I'm disturbing?

 **[Akechi]:** I didn't say that.

 **[Ryuji]:** So having sex with me is disturbing?

 **[Akechi]:** I didn't say that either.

 **[Futaba]:** I call it, Ryuji tops!

 **[Ryuji]:** WHAT?

 **[Akechi]:**...

 **[Akechi]:** We'll be at Leblanc in fifteen minutes.

 **[Futaba]:** Gotcha, probably gotta put your clothes on first.

 **[Yusuke]:** Why? 

 **[Futaba]:** Yusuke. You don't go out naked. That's just. No.

 **[Yusuke]:** No, I know that. I'm asking why they need to do that. They never took their clothes off in the first place.

 **[Akira]:** So, just making out?

 **[Ryuji]:** NO! Nothing happened! I just bought him a cake!

 **[Futaba]:** Cake? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 **[Ryuji]:** Argh!

The blonde let out a groan of frustration, restraining himself from throwing his phone at the wall. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the small smile on Yusuke's face. He was enjoying this. Ryuji set the cake down (whether or not he'd admit it, he'd feel guilty if he messed up Akechi's carpet) on the coffee table and stood. Akechi—Goro, his the right side of his brain reminded him—turned off his phone and glanced up and looked around, seeing that Ryuji had already risen and now Yusuke was getting up too. He didn't move but he could feel Shujin Academy's former track star boring holes in his head as if to declare silently that he didn't have a choice.

He sighed and leaned back in the loveseat he was sitting in, looking away from the both of them. Yusuke looked at him and he could sense the concern radiating off him, even if Goro didn't look at his eyes. Eventually, he stood and grabbed his keys, ushering the two out of his apartment before locking the door behind him and heading down the hallway. It was once again the same like it was in Akechi's palace when they were heading inside, Akechi in the back but this time with Yusuke instead of Ryuji while Ryuji led.

Ryuji was glad he was in the front because now Akechi wouldn't be able to see his flushed face. Like normal, his thoughts wandered off to things he didn't want to think about. Like Group Chat, which led him to think about Akechi. Which led him to think about Akechi's statements. He said he wouldn't find having sex with Ryuji disturbing. His face warmed. Futaba kept teasing him and Akechi, hinting at something more than an awkward "I-hate-you-but-not-all-the-time" kind of friendship, if he could even really call it that. And then his imagination ultimately began to give him images of Akechi holding him against a wall, pressing his lips against the blonde's, running his hands up and down his body and under his shirt and unbuckling his belt and...

The runner felt himself hardening in his pants. Thank the Lord that he was wearing a longer shirt today to cover it up, but there's no way he was going on the train like this, open to the public to see, especially when the person he had been fantasizing about just minutes ago was walking behind him, chatting with Yusuke about what sounded like school material. He cleared his throat, they would be exiting the building soon. "Yo, Goro."

Akechi looked up at the call of his name. Truth be told, it felt slightly unusual hearing Ryuji say his first name like that. And endearing, but Akechi wasn't going to admit that to himself. "Yes, Ryuji?"

"Where's the bathroom?" he asked, scratching his neck awkwardly. For some reason, Ryuji didn't stop or turn around, just continued speaking. The detective raised an eyebrow in question.

"Not on this floor. I'd have to take you back to my apartment. Why didn't you use the bathroom while we were still there?" Yusuke silently spectated, watching the back of Ryuji's head but listening of course.

"I didn't need to use it!" Ryuji protested. 

"But now you do?"

"Yes! Now can you give me the keys so I can go back and use the bathroom?" Akechi shook his head but he knew Ryuji couldn't see it. Givng Ryuji's his keys was risky for many reasons, and not just the reasons Ryuji would probably take into mind after asking the quesiton.

"Yusuke, go on with out us and tell the others will be there shortly, alright?" he instructed the artist. The blue-haired boy nodded and walked ahead, not sparing Ryuji a glance, thankfully.

Ryuji knew Akechi would trust him by himself with his keys. Detectives don't believe in coincidences. Maybe he concluded it was some suspicious plot to wreck his apartment or something. But he knew the detective prince wasn't that stupid to believe such things. He simply didn't trust Ryuji with his keys and that was understandable. They turned around and headed back up the elevator to Akechi's apartment, to which during the trip Ryuji tried his best to hide his, er, problem from Akechi. He didn't seem to notice or if he did, he didn't say anything, which was relieving either way.

When they reached the door, Akechi took his keys out of his pocket and opened the door before entering, Ryuji walking in after him a little too hurriedly. He stumbled for a second because of his bad leg, leaning into Akechi just enough that his crotch was against the detective's ass for a few seconds before he stabilized himself. The brunette froze for a second, tensing a little as a shiver ran down his spine. He obviously noticed something was up, it was the way Ryuji walked, but he doubted Ryuji would be hard, especially at a random time like this. He made it seem like nothing had happened however and just showed Ryuji the bathroom.

Akechi bit his lip, watching the blonde enter, most likely to jack off. There was this dream, technically a nightmare in its early stages that Akechi had a couple of weeks ago. The dream first appeared months ago in June when Akechi encountered Akira, Ann, and Ryuji at the TV station. Ryuji's blunt honesty had attracted him, and apparently, that was all his brain needed before it started projecting fantasies that were anything but PG of him and the loud blonde boy at the television station. It came back a couple of weeks ago, no longer anything to fear. Embarrassingly, he more or less embraced Dream Ryuji's touch, secretly wishing that it might happen in real life.

Technically, this would be a chance for this to happen in real life. Right? He could chide himself all he wants and say it's wrong and immoral and that he shouldn't but Ryuji had just accidentally pressed his boner against his butt and the detective couldn't just let that slide.

"Ryuji," he spoke up before the blonde could close the door. The runner paused, looking impatient. "Can I help?"

His eyes widened considerably. "Help?" he repeated with uncertainty. Akechi's eyes traveled downward to his little, uh, "problem" and Ryuji's face heated up, red blossomed on his cheeks.

"You know. Help," he continued as if that would clear anything up. He stepped forward and interestingly enough, Ryuji didn't step back. He took another step, and another step, and another until he was so close to Ryuji he could feel the steady beat of the other's heart and could count the other's breaths. Akechi fumbled for the door handle behind him and closed the entry point to the bathroom. Ryuji didn't object in anyway, just stared up at the taller boy with lust written in his eyes.

Oh how he was going to regret this later.


	9. Futaba Teaches Akechi How to Beat Akira and Ryuji at Video Games; Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akechi and Ryuji decide what happens in the bathroom, stays in the bathroom; Akechi, Yusuke, and Ryuji find a Phantom Thieves enthusiast in the subway; Futaba challenges Akira and Ryuji to a video game competition (for no absolute reason).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> low-key added a random ass OC into this bc wtf not
> 
> i plan to do stuff with him don't worry
> 
> he's important
> 
> kind of
> 
> besides that he is also here for satire alongside Futaba and Akira bc there is going to be a lot of sad angst shit in this fic

Ryuji hated to admit it, but Akechi's lips against his own felt  _good_. They were soft and full and brushed just the right away against Ryuji's and made the blonde release a moan.

For the past minute, it had just been kissing, slowly escalating until Akechi was pinning Ryuji against the bathroom wall, similar to the runner's earlier fantasy.

There was no way in hell Futaba was going to learn about this, or the merciless teasing would be endless.

The detective's hand was resting on the other's waist as he pulled him closer, leisurely licking Ryuji's bottom lip, asking for entrance. The blonde allowed it and now their tongues were dancing with each other, fighting each other, demanding dominance. Naturally, Ryuji played rough, biting at the other's lips and teasing him with his tongue, secretly enjoying the whimpers it produced. Akechi won anyway as the other slowly melted under his touch and his soft lips and hot tongue.

Technically the runner didn't agree to this, but he didn't fight back and right now would be too awkward a time to push Akechi away. Especially when his lips felt so damn  _good_.

Akechi's hands were gloved, Ryuji realized, and they were sliding their way up his shirt, lifting it up as well. He didn't protest but wished Akechi wasn't wearing gloves so he could feel his hands on his skin. An odd request from a boy who apparently greatly dislikes the boy making out with him.

He could already hear Futaba's taunts.

His arms found their way up and around Akechi's neck, exaggerating the fact that Ryuji was shorter than the brunette. For now, it looked like Ryuji probably would top...

Stop. Focus on getting rid of the boner. Gotta get to Leblanc.

As if Akechi could read the other's thoughts, he lowered one of his gloved hands and easily unbuckled Ryuji's pants,  _exactly like how he did in Ryuji's fantasy_. This was the weirdest time to feel a wave of deja-vu, but it hit him anyway. He lowered them a little, slipping his hand downward to meet Ryuji's bulge. He felt him for a couple of seconds, just as they broke apart for air.

The blonde panted, staring at Akechi with a lustful expression that the detective was going to have a hard time removing from his memory tonight. He looked so vulnerable, too vulnerable, and holy shit was it hot. He could snap Ryuji's neck, hide the body, never show up at Leblanc, and call it a day but he couldn't because the look Ryuji was giving him was making him too horny for him to think straight.

He lowered himself to a kneel on the floor, so he was level with Ryuji's crotch. He could feel the blonde watching him wearily, but Akechi could still hear the pants, the pants and moans, and whimpers that were making him harder each second.

He might have to change after this.

He tugged at the waistband of Ryuji's boxers and the runner complied, pulling them down to reveal his rock hard cock, standing up against his stomach. The detective crawled closer to him and Ryuji softly requested that he take off his gloves, he did. Some part of him later may regret this decision, may plague his conscience and call him disgusting every time he looked at Ryuji, but right now all he could think about was satisfying the blonde. 

Acceptance, he yearned for it. Any type of acceptance would be fine at this point, even this type of acceptance which was neither pure nor appropriate for someone of his status.

He teased the tip of Ryuji's cock anyway and slid Ryuji's warm member into his mouth, coating it with his saliva. The moan he received from the action was loud yet pleasing to his ears. He continued, slowly sliding it down his throat. Immediately, Ryuji shouted out, "Goro!", panting heavily.

Perhaps it was beginner's luck that there was little choking, but as Akechi pulled his head back up to lick the head of Ryuji's dick, he could feel the blonde shaking. It was unexpected, but suddenly Ryuji had his hands tangled in Akechi's brown hair, yanking him back down on his dick again.

"Goro... aah... y-your mouth..."

The detective released a muffled moan and complied with the request, basically falling into submission as he allowed the runner to face fuck him. Their moans filled the bathroom, sounding like music to Akechi's ears. Dirty, very, very, dirty and sexual music. Akechi could tell some part of himself, somewhere, hated this situation, but was so overpowered it didn't have the strength to scold him right now.

"I-I could do this for days..."

"Ah... G-Goro," Ryuji groaned, gripping the other male's hair tighter. Akechi lightly raked his teeth across the skin of the boy's cock in response, stimulating another loud, "Goro!" He pushed against him harder, pulling faster now, barely considering the brunette's state. It was a lie saying Akechi didn't mind, the "stop"s and "slow down"s were muffled by the other's dick but even if Ryuji could understand, he doubted he'd do anything.

He was being used, he hated it. He let it happen anyway.

Then there was Akechi's infatuation with praise which greatly affected his opinion on the whole ordeal by a landslide the moment Ryuji said, "Oh... so good... So good, Goro..." His mind drew blank and was filled with that acceptance concept again. Ryuji would accept him if he did this, he just needed to endure the rough movements and make him feel good.

The left side of his brain was calling "bullshit" while the right side blatantly ignored it and continued to push Akechi to do it. Is this what they mean when they say "You're fighting against yourself"? Because it sure as hell feels like it.

"Y-You're makin' me f-feel so... ah...!" More praise, one side continued to call "bullshit", the other side just restrained that side. "I'm g-gonna cum if... you... oh, shit, I can't even t-think properly 'cause of you!" Ryuji's grip loosened and he leaned against the wall, as the heat that had been building up in his stomach released itself in the form of thick strips of seed pouring down Akechi's throat as he orgasmed. He mumbled some incoherent gibberish and closed his eyes, releasing his grip on Akechi's hair completely.

"That was effin' amazin'," he moaned, opening his eyes again once he had caught his breath. The brunette lifted his head, slurping the semen off of Ryuji's member.

The taste of Ryuji in Akechi's mouth was bittersweet, but the detective had swallowed everything, even licking the sides of his mouth with his tongue to get it all down his throat. He didn't know why, maybe because he had been dreaming about this for months now or that he felt obligated to. It didn't occur to him that he might be doing it to prove to himself something he didn't quite know yet. He was staring up at the blonde while he did this, forcing the other to look away as to not get hard again. 

Ryuji pulled his pants up again and buckled them while Akechi stood and slipped his gloves back on. Once the both of them looked as normal and as undisheveled as you could look after just giving someone a blowjob while that someone moaned his ass off, they awkwardly turned to face each other, Akechi speaking first yet Ryuji was quick to interrupt him.

"Let's just agree that—"  
  
"What happens in the bathroom, stays in the bathroom?" Akechi paused, slightly surprised but nodded in agreement. They shared another awkward glanced before Ryuji spoke up and said, "Uh... Goro, er, thanks, for that."

The brunette just smiled, "You're welcome. It was... enjoyable, on my part."

The runner raised an eyebrow. "Have you...?"

Immediately, Akechi put his hands up in defense, wide-eyed. "No! No! That was... that was the first time I've ever done anything like that."  _And hopefully not the last,_ said right brain.  _Shut up_ , said left brain. "Have you?"

Ryuji's cheeks immediately went red as he stammered out, "Well no... Like, I've jacked off before but never had someone y'know..." Too many details, now he sounded stupid. Why did it matter what Akechi thought of him? Exactly, it didn't matter. Or so Ryuji tried to convince himself. "You.. um... your mouth..." Ryuji struggled to find words and just to tease him, the brunette stepped closer to him. The blonde went wide-eyed and Akechi just chuckled, shaking his head.

"We should leave now. Yusuke's probably already halfway there and Futaba will be suspicious if he gets there before we do," Akechi suggested, opening the bathroom door. The other nodded and a made a move to leave. "But Ryuji." the blonde turned his head. "I want to do that again, in a riskier situation."  _No, no, you do not,_ left brain said.  _You're against Ryuji and the Phantom Thieves. You can't be sucking his dick all the time._

Ryuji blinked, "Riskier...?" Wasn't being sucked off in Akechi's bathroom risky enough, especially when people like Futaba exist?

Nonetheless, he was interested in what Akechi had to say, even if he was embracing the enemy. Part of him had been hoping never to replicate that scene again,  _anywhere_ , for his pride had been wounded but the other part, the one that hid behind the curtains of his heart, had been wanting to hear that.

That they could do it again.

That was the part Ryuji didn't necessarily like since he and the rest of the thieves didn't particularly trust Akechi's shit.

"Like in a palace," he murmured, walking to the front door. "Distract the others and then sneak off... It would be more..." he couldn't think of a word, Ryuji was staring at him, practically pleading for the rest of his sentence with his eyes. "... _erotic_ because of the risk." The blonde was going to get all hard again if he asked for specifics so he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck and snug his hands into his pockets.

"Maybe," he agreed. "But let's go. Futaba's gonna give us a hard time anyway."

Akechi opened the door and allowed Ryuji to walk out first before closing the door behind him and locking it for the second time. They headed down the hallway, faster this time, and by the time they were outside of the apartment building they had concluded it'd simply be faster to take a taxi to the subway station. They rushed through immediately when they got there, and their effort paid off immensely after they jumped to the second train to take them to Yongen-Jaya because the spotted Yusuke.

The duo pushed their way through the crowd of people, Ryuji ignoring all the grumbling adults on the train while Akechi literally turned to apologize to everyone they shoved past until Ryuji gripped his wrist and dragged him forward in annoyance. The brunette yelled from the tight grip and sudden tug on his arm but didn't pull his arm back or anything, just let the blonde drag him to Yusuke. There was an obvious pout on his face that Ryuji could see,  and he turned his head so he could no longer look at the detective because the expression was adorable and made Ryuji doubt Akechi's traitor status for a second.

For a second.

They found Yusuke who was lucky and snagged a seat while the two of them had to stand squished together, as other people surrounded them in the train. Their shoulders were touching, Ryuji was blushing, and holy shit, that rhymed. Yusuke looked up, staring at them oddly. For all his naivety ensued, he just simply couldn't avoid the chance to mention the blush on the runner's cheeks and bluntly asked:

"Why does Akechi make your face red like that?"

Ryuji blushed even harder and for the sake of teasing, Akechi grabbed Ryuji's hand and chuckled, smiling at him. "Well, Ryuji... Aren't you going to tell him?"

The runner yanked his hand away and glared hard at the brunette despite his tomato-colored face, resembling an angry cartoon character. Akechi couldn't hold in the bubbling laughter. The other just narrowed his eyes at him and pushed him into a stranger, muttering incoherent curses under his breath. Yusuke watched with what could be described as an amused expression at what he had caused until Ryuji shoved the brunette into said stranger.

Afterward, he was immediately on guard as said stranger turned to face the three teenagers. None of them recognized the person but Ryuji swore his uniform looked oddly familiar until he realized the pants the student was wearing were those of Shujin Academy's. He wore the traditional winter uniform shirt, but the blazer was wrapped around his waist and he had his hands in his pockets, similar to the way Akira would have them, except the expression he held was completely different from the black-haired boy's. His expression had a flicker of mischief in it as the corners of his lips tilted downward in a frown.

His hair was a mess, kind of. It was blonde, fading into ballerina pink, slightly curly, hanging over his face and covering his forehead, partially covering his left eye. Speaking of that, his eyes were creepily unnatural. They were bright, more colorless than bright actually. It looked like a shade of white but it was tinged with purple which ultimately convinced the three that his eyes were an inhuman shade of light lavender that like stated earlier multiple times, should not be possible. He was tall, really tall, like even taller than Akechi tall and possibly taller than Yusuke tall.

Ryuji hated being the shortest male, but now there was someone else to make him feel shorter. Akechi stepped back, into Ryuji and stepped on his foot and the blonde was convinced that was on purpose but then again they were on a full to the brim Tokyo subway train. 

"I'm terribly sorry, I didn't mean to shove you. We were just rough housing, my dearest apologies," the detective prince started, immediately jumping into action with that charming, honeyed, kissing ass voice that suddenly Ryuji was extremely glad existed because lord knows what shit Ryuji got him and Yusuke into. The Shujin Academy stranger whom Ryuji didn't recognize stared at them blankly with his creepy lighter than light lavender eyes. And then Yusuke being Yusuke had to continue being naive yet painfully and stupidly blunt.

Ryuji would slap him if the question he asked wasn't on the blonde's mind too. "Are you a Shujin student?" he inquired, his elegant and smooth voice just giving Ryuji more reasons to resent being so short and weirdly sounding (at least in his opinion). 

The stranger scanned the three of them before the train jostled to the side a bit, stunning all the passengers who let out yelps and screams in shock. The train was steady at a minute's notice, of course, the lights inside were flickering though. During this, Akechi had been pushed into Ryuji, Yusuke had fallen out of his seat and the stranger stumbled forward. The blonde wrapped his arms around the detective to keep him from tottering to the side further while Yusuke grabbed the nearby pole to stabilize himself and the stranger just well... stumbled into more people.

Ryuji at first deducted his reaction was natural because it would be cruel to have Akechi knock his head into the floor or something like that, but after more careful consideration but that part of him hidden in his heart... he knew that definitely wasn't the reason. Once they were steady again, Ryuji let go, Yusuke got back in his seat, and the stranger apologized to the people he had abruptly crashed into.

He turned back to the three boys who had momentarily forgotten about him, exchanging the memory of the encounter for theories about the prior incident. "That was unexpected," he coughed, gathering their attention. "Yeah, I'm a Shujin student. New though. Just enrolled last week and not many know me." Akechi snapped his fingers immediately, recalling information on who the stranger was.

"Fukashi Hashimoto, right?" Akechi exclaimed, startling Ryuji. The boy—Fukashi—nodded, confirming his identity. "You're that nationally known high school volleyball player that used to play for Mitsuyo High School. I heard about your supposed soon-to-be-transfer, to a school in Tokyo. How come?"

Fukasi shrugged, "More my parents' choice than mine. My life was too 'exciting' for them so they decided it's better for me to take a break." The story already annoyed Ryuji. Bloody adults deciding their kids' lives for them. But the name rang a bell, everyone knew Fukashi Hashimoto, and not just because he was a national volleyball star. The main reason news about him spread so much across the country was because of his abnormal eyes but everyone recognized his talent for the sport soon after. Imagine if he had transferred while Kamoshida was still around... Oh, how hell would've been brought upon him...

"So they sent you to Tokyo?" Ryuji asked with a snort. "It doesn't get anything but exciting here, especially with talk of the Phantom Thieves." Okay, now Ryuji was willing to admit he had an obsession with bringing the thieves up randomly. He was about to ask if Fukashi knew them but Fukashi's face lit up in recognition immediately, suddenly now intrigued. 

"I know! That's what  _I_ told them!" he proclaimed. "But I personally think the Phantom Thieves are so cool! Swooping in to bring justice when no one else will. They are a bit strange though... some of the rumors about them don't make much sense but at the same time seem to be the only logical answer. Like the psychotic breakdowns," Fukashi continued, animatedly moving his hands now as he spoke. It was a habit Akechi picked up on immediately, concluding that Fukashi must have a lot of energy off the court as well, which is one of the reasons he was so good at volleyball. He needed to get rid of that extra energy somewhere.

Ryuji was already hooked unto Fukashi's enthusiasm about the Phantom Thieves and lost really any reason to dislike the guy. "I dunno, I don't think those rumors are true," the blonde said, adding his own input. Strangely enough, neither Yusuke or Akechi said a thing.

"Same, I'd like to believe that too... but until another suspect comes along, it's kind of a daunting possibility... I hope it's not them though."

"Hashimoto-san," Yusuke began, crossing his legs. "You look different from when you last appeared on television."

Fukashi glanced at Yusuke, his eyebrows raising to the roof. "Oh yeah, I kind of, y'know, changed my hair," he replied nonchalantly like it was no big deal. Akechi had noticed too but opted not to say anything. Despite the detective thing being a cover, it was embedded in him now, after playing the role for two years. And detectives don't believe in coincidences, only connections. Fukashi's sudden transfer, in the middle of the school year, the unneeded change of appearance, the fact that he just happened to bump into Ryuji, Yusuke, and Akechi, the random train jostle, and even the fact that he was wearing his school uniform on a Sunday, didn't add up.

Akechi had noticed too but opted not to say anything. Despite the detective thing being a cover, it was embedded in him now, after playing the role for two years. And detectives don't believe in coincidences, only connections. Fukashi's sudden transfer, in the middle of the school year, the unneeded change of appearance, the fact that he just happened to bump into Ryuji, Yusuke, and Akechi, the random train jostle, and even the fact that he was wearing his school uniform on a Sunday, didn't add up.

"Kind of? You went blonde, dude!" Ryuji intervened. "And kind of pink too. But it looks awesome, man. My hair isn't long enough to do that stuff. Plus I'd look weird with pink or really any different color in my hair." Fukashi chuckled, just shrugging as he awkwardly accepted the praise.

"I must agree with Ryuji as well," Yusuke conceded. "It suits you, Hashimoto-san." Fukashi stared at Yusuke awkwardly, when he realized he said "Hashimoto-san".

"Er, please, just call me Fukashi," he requested stiffly and the artist nodded in acknowledgment. "But thanks. My parents didn't like the random change and actually tried to get me to dye it brown again," he laughed afterward. "Imagine what will happen when my roots grow out, brown, blonde, and pink."

"A very odd combination," Akechi agreed. "Fukashi, do you mind if I ask why you're wearing your school uniform on a Sunday?" Fukashi didn't turn to face Akechi, instead, his eyes shifted over to the brunette, filled with disdain as his smile became just a bit more forced. 

"I went to school, duh," he teased. "But in all honesty, I really did go to school. I was thinking about joining the volleyball team here but that would draw more attention to me than my parents would agree with so I went to see what other activities could be arranged. Also," he looked around for a second as if someone else was listening. "I'm kind of, well, being tutored."

Akechi didn't push for details. But he didn't believe Fukashi's reasoning, and even Fukashi saw it. He could tell because as soon as he finished his eyes flickered away and the tight smile he wore tightened. For the sake of appearances, Akechi nodded and hummed in fake acceptance. Maybe this was just his childhood instinct speaking, but Fukashi wasn't someone to trust. If Fukashi was anything like what Akechi thought he was like, he was wearing a mask. A very convincing mask. Why? He didn't know nor particularly care unless Fukashi was going to intercept his plans or something along those lines.

The rest of the train ride was spent with ecstatic chatting between Ryuji and Fukashi with random input from Yusuke. Akechi stood off to the side, or well, as off to the side as you could get in the squished train car, watching with a blank face, denying any thought of jealousy that bubbled from within him. Fukashi kept getting closer and closer to Ryuji... and he was starting to think that had nothing to do with the full train car.

Finally, they reached the station for Yongen-Jaya and now Akechi was the one dragging Ryuji along, bumping into people and failing to apologize. Yusuke followed after having said bye to Fukashi who seemed to be going further down the line to get home. While the blonde did encourage speed earlier, he was surprised to find himself being the one lagging behind. Akechi was gripping his wrist so hard he swore that his blood circulation was being cut off and repeatedly attempted to yank his hand away. It wasn't until they got outside did Akechi let go.

The blonde rubbed his wrist with his other hand but followed Akechi, who seemed to have that same aura of anger around him they'd seen in the Palace as they headed through the back streets of Yongen-Jaya to get to Leblanc. None of them noticed the national volleyball star following them, not too far away, leaning against walls inconspicuously and watching them through the corners of his eyes with a Cheshire-like-smile.

Ryuji was half-tempted to ask what Akechi's problem was but he was convinced the detective would explode if he even tried to talk to him, so he just warily followed, rushing ahead when he recognized the back alley that Leblanc was in.

He flung the door open and was greeted by the soft smile of Akira by the counter, drying some mugs with a towel. Futaba sat on a stool by the counter and seemed to be talking animatedly about some topic. Ann and Makoto were sitting next to her, having a conversation of their own that seemed to be resulting in Makoto blushing wildly. Haru was sitting in a booth while Morgana walked around on the table, talking about what Akechi could decipher from where he was standing was about the Metaverse.

The sound of the door closing drew all of their attention and when Futaba saw the three a wicked smile was carved out on her features. "You're ten minutes late," she sang. "Guess wrapping it up took longer than expected?"

Ryuji was tempted to chuck his sneaker at the red head but just shot her an unamused look and hoisted himself onto a seat by the counter. Yusuke sat down in the booth with Haru and Akechi sat next to Ryuji. Futaba's grin grew. The thought of earlier made the brunette smirk. If only she knew her teasing had become true to an extent. 

Akira set down the final mug, having finished drying it. He took off his apron and hung it up on a hook before walking around the counter to head to the booth where Haru and Morgana were. The rest hopped down from their stools and gathered around that same booth, sitting in their usual fashion while leaving Akechi to be the one standing. He jokingly requested coffee and Ryuji shot him a flat look and told him to quit effing around.

The meeting went smooth enough, where Akechi explained the gist of his plan and gave the gang his reasons of why he wanted to work with them. Ryuji himself was incredibly iffy about it, but he could see where the detective was coming from. However, with whatever distorted desires lay in his heart, his words were likely false. Even if they were relatable reasons. Reasons why the Phantom Thieves had come into existence in the first place. He did admit in his head that the Thieves' acting was spot on. Makoto and especially Ann, compared to her performance with Yusuke was absolutely incredible and would've fooled Ryuji if he didn't already know what was going on.

Likewise, the others acted sympathetic as well but didn't add too much of their own input, just listening and nodding or expressing verbal agreement or disagreement when necessary. After Akechi finished, he, of course, suggested entering Sae's palace today, but just like they had planned, Makoto interrupted, stating she had some business today, that's why she wanted to meet earlier so eagerly so they could at least get the gist of the situation here. Everyone sounded understanding, Akechi too. Especially Akechi. It was almost as if he actually  _wanted_ to help them and wasn't doing this all to throw their asses in jail later.

 _But even then, his palace doesn't correlate with his suspected desires..._ It was a thought, and the blonde left it at that. Just a thought. Because he truly wanted to believe Akechi was at fault because that would make everything so much easier. They disbanded afterward, Akechi stating he had to get to the Prosecutor's office now since this had been a little-unexpected delay. Haru left afterward, saying she had to tend to her plants since she had been in the middle of that when Makoto texted them. Futaba and Akira, of course, stayed behind at the cafe with Morgana to laugh about something involving video games or something like that. Makoto had obviously already left but they all of them knew except the brunette that she would show up again later.

Yusuke and Ann left of their own accord, after conversating with Ryuji, failing to notice the Shujin student watching them from the end of the street. Ryuji stayed with Akira, Futaba, and Morgana for awhile before he too left. It was a random thought, but he remembered the cake that he'd brought over to Akechi's apartment and wondered if Akechi would eat it. It'd be a waste, and the brunette didn't seem like someone to waste food but maybe he didn't like the cake and was just forcing himself to eat it to keep up appearances. The runner was half-tempted to follow Akechi just so he could know but that was weird enough.

Wondering about Akechi eating cake.

He too, passed Fukashi lurking in the shadows and headed home. That's when the so-called legendary volleyball player sauntered in Leblanc, smiling nonchalantly with his hands in his pockets. Futaba and Akira turned their heads at the sound of the door closing in regards, and Morgana shifted, tilting his cat head. Akira shifted uncomfortably, not wanting to have to dawn his apron again and make a cup of coffee but Fukashi didn't ask for anything, just sat down on a stool.

"So... you're Akira Kurusu?"

* * *

 

Akechi awoke to the ping of his phone at four A.M. in the morning. He shifted around in bed, not wanting to get up, especially at such ungodly hours. He buried his head into his pillow for a couple of seconds before sleepily sitting up and snatching his phone off of his nightstand and turning it on, finding himself on chat.

 **[Futaba]:** GUYS!

No one responded for a good five minutes. The detective prince assumed they were still trying to comprehend why Futaba would text them so early as well.

 **[Ann]:** Futaba, it's like four.

 **[Futaba]:** I know! 

Akechi groaned in disdain, leaning back into his bed. He didn't have time for this.

 **[Futaba]:** Look, look, it's important, I promise.

 **[Yusuke]:** And what exactly is so important that it needs to be announced at four in the morning?

 **[Futaba]:** Shush Inari.

The brunette was so close to just turning off chat and going straight back to bed but then Akira replied with something that majorly piqued his interested and woke him up completely.

 **[Akira]:** We're having a couples' gaming contest!

 **[Makoto]:** Couple's gaming... what? And why at four A.M.? Why couldn't you tell us in the morning?

Finally, he sent in a response of his own, annoyed they had woken him up for this.

 **[Akechi]:** I agree with Makoto.

 **[Futaba]:** It is morning.

 **[Ryuji]:** It's too damn early for this.

 **[Futaba]:** Akira! Announce the teams with me!

He almost wanted to take up that offer his shadow has been selling lately. It wouldn't be too irresponsible to kill himself in this situation.

 **[Akira]:** Yes sir!

 **[Haru]:** But there's nine of us...

 **[Futaba]:** Counting Morgana.

 **[Akira]:** He says "hi". Also, he's pestering me to go to sleep.

 **[Ryuji]:** Take his advice, dude.

 **[Akira]:** Teams: Ann & Makoto

 **[Ann]:** Who put you up to this?

 **[Akira]:** Ryuji & Akira

 **[Ryuji]:** Nice!

 **[Akira]:** Yusuke & Haru

 **[Yusuke]:** I'm not skilled in the art of the digital game, though.

 **[Haru]:** Me too. 

 **[Akira]:** And finally, Futaba & Akechi

 **[Ann]:** I honestly didn't see that coming.

 **[Akechi]:** I'm sorry to disappoint you Futaba, but I can't participate in this contest. I haven't even properly played a video game before.

Chat seemed to freeze for a couple of seconds, and he swore he could feel Futaba's surprise from miles away.

 **[Futaba]:** You haven't... played... VIDEO GAMES?!

 **[Akechi]:** I never had the time to. Or the opportunity.

 **[Futaba]:** Come over to Leblanc,  _right now_.

 **[Akechi]:** Futaba, it's four.

 **[Futaba]:** Leblanc!

 **[Makoto]:** This is irrational.

 **[Futaba]:** Leblanc!

 **[Ryuji]:** Just go, Goro.

 **[Ann]:** So the rest of us can sleep.

 **[Akechi]:**....

 **[Futaba]:** Ryuji, convince him! He'll listen to you.

**[Ryuji]:** _What?_

**[Futaba]:**  Please.

 **[Akira]:** My persuasion skills are better than Ryuji's though.

 **[Ryuji]:** Hey!

 **[Akechi]:** I'll go. Just please, don't ever do this again.

 **[Futaba]:** Gotcha.

The brunette sighed, turning his phone off and tossing it back on the nightstand. When he turned to get up, he legitimately fell out of his bed. When he hit the floor he let out another groan and laid there for a few minutes. It was way too damn early for this.

He eventually got up and headed to the bathroom to do all the necessary things. While brushing his teeth he remembered what had occurred in the bathroom just yesterday and almost choked on his toothbrush. He spent his time in the shower contemplating it and blushed wildly over it as he slipped his clothes on. He hoped Akira would be up to make him a cup of coffee so he didn't bother getting anything to eat and just headed out, grabbing his keys and jacket.

He was honestly so tired he didn't even realize he passed the underground passageway to the subway until he was a block past it and had to run back so he didn't miss the train. Even at night, Tokyo was so lively, it slightly irked him to see people on the subway at this time, but then again he'd seen weirder, to be honest. He enters a supernatural world to assassinate people. If that didn't scream weird he didn't know what did.

He reached Leblanc half an hour later at 4:35 A.M., stumbling in like a drunkard from lack of sleep. It didn't help that he had gone to sleep at twelve A.M. that night so he only had four hours in total on sleep, Like predicted, Akira was there, standing behind the counter with his own cup of coffee while another sat on the counter with steam rising from it. Futaba was sitting on the stool, hugging her legs to her chest. Akechi sleepily approached the counter and took the cup of coffee. The first sip greatly helped, awakening him much more than before. He sighed, glancing at Futaba.

"Are you seriously going to teach me how to play video games at four thirty in the morning?" he muttered, not bothering to hide the disdain in his voice.

"Yup," happily chirped the redhead.

Someone kill him now.

After the coffee, Akira led them to the attic where he turned on his old television and gaming system. Two chairs were sitting in front of the tv, and there were controllers laying on the seats. Futaba sat down immediately, grabbing the controller and selecting a game. She had previously explained that Akechi was going to watch for awhile so he could pick up patterns and what not and then he'd get his chance. Akira sat down in the other chair and the two began to play.

What was supposed to be a calm friendly match escalated into an extremely competitive game of (ironically) Super Smash Bros. Brawl where the two shoved each other, pulled at each other's hair and the like to win. The brunette just watched with a blank face, wishing he could have some more coffee. Before he knew it, it was his turn and he took Akira's seat. Futaba definitely did not go easy on him and he had died several times before even coming close to killing Futaba's avatar.

Sometime during it, Morgana had risen to watch as well, despite his complaints about sleep. Honestly, the brunette agreed. It took them up until the time Akira usually woke up to get ready to go to school for Akechi to finally win.

And afterward, he passed out from exhaustion.

Akira allowed the brunette to sleep on his futon and started getting ready while Futaba headed back to Sojiro's house. Morgana watched Akechi for awhile, which was slightly creepy but several people had already done it at this point and he wasn't aware anyway. Akira came back and beckoned the cat into his bag before heading down stairs.

Likewise, no one noticed Fukashi outside Leblanc and Sojiro's back was turned when he walked past the counter and up the stairs to the attic. By the time Sojiro realized someone was heading up stairs, all he could see were the standard uniform pants of Shujin so he assumed it was Akira going back to get something and forgot about the incident.

And for the fifth time since the hospital incident, Akechi was once again, being watched in his sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> truth be told
> 
> that was my first time ever writing smut
> 
> lord help me it took me three days just to finish that portion of the chapter
> 
> every paragraph
> 
> an hour
> 
> excuse me im going to go find a tub of holy water and some soap that is shaped like the bible so i can cleanse myself
> 
> the smut scene alone was more than 1000 words
> 
> so much thought


	10. Crow Wants to Send a Calling Card; Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akechi meets Fukashi's intentions, and the gang enters Niijima's palace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I'd like to thank everyone who has commented and gave this fic kudos!
> 
> You guys mean so much to me and I'm glad you keep reading this (crappy) fan fiction! I hope to meet your expectations, though I can't say my writing is the best. There are definitely authors out there who probably could've presented my own concept better than me. 
> 
> As long as you guys are here to support me, I don't think I'll ever run out of motivation or imagination!

Akechi awoke to those same, startlingly creepy lavender eyes. Staring him down and watching like a hawk as he stirred from the unconscious at roughly twelve P.M. in the afternoon. The blonde teen wore a grin to make those terrifyingly unnatural eyes that hid behind thick, black-framed glasses that Akechi knew from memory, he had not been wearing the day before. They looked eerily similar to Akira's, and for a split-second, Akechi considered that he was hallucinating.

But it was Fukashi, no doubt. Those eyes could never be imagined, they were too scary, too  _real_ to be imagined. 

The grin the tall boy wore was one that disturbed Akechi. It was off, strange, psychotic if we were to be straightforward. That's not why it bothered him though. The brunette admitted to himself he wore the same smile when facing the shadows of his victims in their final moments. What disturbed him was that the same smile was on someone else, and it looked wrong on an outsider. It invoked unnecessary fear and paranoia, but he assumed that was the point. So Akechi wouldn't ask questions right off the bat like irrational Ryuji would.

Something told him that Fukashi knew Akechi wouldn't ask questions immediately either way. He seemed to just enjoy the skeptical look on the detective's face, mixed with one of suspicion and fear. It was one of those gut feelings that the detective prince knew he couldn't question because it was right no matter what others told him.

Fukashi was sitting in a chair, the same model of the chairs Akechi and Futaba had been sitting in earlier, duking it out until the brunette finally won and passed out. His legs were crossed, much like Yusuke would've sat minus the fact that he wasn't Yusuke and his hands weren't resting on his lap like they would've been if he were him. Instead, one of his hands had reached out to brush Akechi's bangs out of his face, much to the detective's surprise and disdain. It was eerie paired with that smile. The smile full of insanity. With the blonde's other hand he pushed his own bangs out of his face, brushing them back to reveal his forehead.

He retracted the hand touching Akechi's hair to take off the glasses and leaned forward, focusing completely on Akechi. As if he hadn't been already. Akechi wanted to shift away, the former volleyball player was too close for his liking, but it would be like shying away from a challenge and he couldn't do that. He knew he couldn't do that, he hated being challenged but turning it down would make him look weak. And we didn't go through two years of absolute hell plus the rest of his miserable life to be called weak.

And then Fukashi pulled an unexpected stunt, of course, catching the detective by surprise. He had anticipated anything but this. Anticipated anything but Fukashi caressing his cheek and pressing his lips to the brunette's for some few seconds. The seconds felt like hours. Akechi was frozen in his spot. He couldn't do anything, he was incapable of fighting back or protesting. But it felt wrong to reply with a tender kiss back. Fukashi pulled away before he could make a decision and the psychotic grin was gone, replaced with a nonchalant, soft yet chilling smile that somehow set him on more unease than the blonde's previous expression.

"Afternoon, Akechi-kun," Fukashi purred, still too close for Akechi's comfort. "Did you have a good nap...?" He bit his lap, dangling his glasses from his other hand, almost tauntingly. He pressed another kiss to the brunette's forehead. Akechi closed his eyes for a second, salvaging the feeling of the teen's lips on his forehead. Enjoying an unrealistic bliss where he felt cared for.

 _Disgusting_ , left brain sneered.  _Don't be afraid to accept the care,_ right brain assured. He truly felt conflicted and his mind was tearing itself apart, which didn't help the swarm of thoughts in his head and his grogginess. 

All in all, he sat there as still as possible, lying on the futon. That's when he fully registered he wasn't in his apartment and the grogginess cleared. The previous hours rushed back to him in manageable blurs and by the time his eyes had flown open and Fukashi had pulled back, staring at the brunette thoughtfully, he was sitting up, breathing heavily. His eyes groomed the room, looking for any sign of Akira or Futaba or even  _Ryuji_ which was random and an irrational hope but it was there.

Anyone but this creepy purple-eyed stranger who had just kissed him— _twice_ —and was smiling at him as if he was some old friend—or boyfriend. 

Fukashi seemed to have something for surprises. Especially surprising Akechi. It seemed to satisfy him in some way when he saw the flutter of Akechi's eyelashes and his lips part to let out a little gasp as the blonde slid his glasses onto Akechi's face. He smiled softened, less ice and more honey. And odd combination but everything about Fukashi was odd. From his hair to his eyes, to his height, to his voice, to his facades, to his smiles. It was fascinating and scary.

Just like him.

Speaking of said boy, he was leaning back in his chair now, watching Akechi with a satisfied expression. The brunette hadn't made a move to remove the glasses yet, and the blonde could agree that he looked attractive in the glasses. It didn't make sense, how he always managed to look attractive no matter what state he was in. He looked attractive in a raggedy hoodie and jeans, wandering the streets like the abandoned child he was. He looked attractive with short scruffy hair and an old stained t-shirt and shorts, sitting by himself in a foster shelter. He looked attractive on television in his blazer and black gloves and holy shit... He even looked attractive sitting here, on a futon, looking absolutely clueless, wearing Fukashi's glasses.

It wasn't fair.

It wasn't fair that Fukashi had all these memories of magnificent Goro Akechi in all his glory, guiding him to the path of inevitable darkness that had been forged to justify his actions. It wasn't fair he'd gone through the turmoil of overcoming all his self-doubt only to see Akechi leave for his own path spiraling towards darkness. It wasn't fair that they couldn't go through the darkness together. It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair,  _it wasn't fair_.

"Akechi-kun," Fukashi hummed, the brown-haired teen's name rolling off his tongue easily as it had a thousand times. Not in front of anyone though. Always by himself, in a private space, where he could think about everything he knows and everything he wants to know. And of course the obvious, he would not be a teenager if he didn't think about such things. Obscenity was a tradition in the life of any normal teen boy. It was not unexpected that Fukashi jerked off, moaning the detective's name like he'd lose it if he forgot how to say his name.

He would never forget how to say his name.

Never.

The brunette's eyes flickered to him. They were cold and calculated and fuck... this wasn't the time to be having dreams about those eyes one day staring at him with desperation. He was here to stake his claim. That's all. Akechi was raising his hand to remove the glasses now, Fukashi stopped him. "Keep them on. At least while we talk," he proposed, his voice more pleading than he wanted it to sound like. The detective dropped his hand, the blonde relaxed.

"Can I tell you a story, Akechi-kun?" He wanted to say Goro. He wanted to say Goro so badly it hurt. It was disrespectful to refer to someone by their first name without their permission first. But he still wanted to so badly. Pleasantries were not getting in the way of his desires. "Excuse me... may I call you Goro?"

 _No,_ he immediately wanted to snap. Not because he was uncomfortable with it. But because it was the name Ryuji had moaned out while he had sucked his cock and suddenly hearing it from anyone but Ryuji felt wrong. But he said 'yes' anyway, possibly for the sake of appearances but he knew Fukashi wasn't falling for it.

"Can I tell you a story, Goro?" the blonde corrected himself, tapping his fingers against his thigh in a 4/4 rhythm. It was a rhetorical question, Fukashi wasn't looking for an answer. He continued speaking after a pause, giving Goro no time to muster a response. "There was... a boy. A despicable one. He was thin and quiet and small and the other children ridiculed him because of his eye color."

The brunette knew immediately, this 'story' was about Fukashi. Why he was telling the detective was beyond him, but he sensed it had something to do with his behavior the prior day.

"His eyes were strange. They were too light, too red, too blue, for the humanly possible. They didn't like him because he was humanly impossible. So the boy fared without friends. Until he met another boy just like him, with ruffled brown hair and broken brown eyes and a silent wish for death. They never spoke though, but the boy wishes he said 'hi' at least once. Imagine what could've changed..." Fukashi drifted off, his eyes wandering off as well, as deep in thought. Suddenly they trained themselves on Akechi again, staring hard as if he could peer into the boy's soul. "Do you remember me, Goro? I don't think you do... We were never well acquainted. You were just the boy who sat in front of me in middle school and I was the boy who sat behind you."

Goro didn't remember much about his prior years. But he was very well acquainted with loneliness and self-loathing. He's best friends with it now, might as well call them lovers. Where Goro goes, self-hatred and isolation follow. Nothing could change that. No one could change that. But he remembered kids... students... he didn't remember Fukashi but that was more of his own fault. He didn't like remembering the children of his childhood who isolated him so he didn't remember. Of course, there were kids like him, but he was so caught up in his own trauma that he never noticed the purple-eyed boy.

Fukashi knew the answer, Goro could tell, because he exhaled slowly, as if he was disappointed in Goro. "I knew it..." he mumbled. "It doesn't matter anymore. You know I exist now so you can't possibly ignore this offer."

The glasses had lenses in them, and they were slightly paining the brunette now since he'd never wore glasses before. "Offer?" he echoed.

"Yes. Let's make a compromise. I help you, you help me," he continued. Goro looked at him skeptically, unsure of why of all people Fukashi had approached him besides the fact that he had been a tiny part of his childhood. Unless Fukashi knew more than he let on, this made no sense. "I need somewhere to stay while I'm in Tokyo. For the past week, I've just been sleeping in the library at Shujin..."

"Your uniform," Goro whispered. The blonde nodded, directing the glare of his vision away from the other boy now. Exchanging the sight of the detective's face for the site of the floor. "Why? Didn't your parents arrange for you to stay somewhere?"

"...I was supposed to stay with my sister," he admitted after awhile, speaking softly. "Sisters, excuse me. I was supposed to stay with my sisters but they refuse to acknowledge me." 

The detective prince shifted, frowning. He didn't have the whole picture yet, and Fukashi was painfully slow at answering his questions. "May I request that you elaborate?"

"I don't remember that curiosity," the blonde teen commented. "It's the job, isn't it?"

The curiosity had always been there. Goro just tended to suppress it. Curiosity brings trouble, it was a common fact. Now he had reason to be curious. Some type of freedom beyond the many chains that bind him. He tended to express said curiosity as much as he could since it was really the only type of freedom he had now behind this facade. "Something like that, yes," Goro conceded.

He nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer. "I assume you'd like to hear the full story." Goro didn't have to respond for the blonde to start speaking again. The glasses were giving him a headache. He wanted to take them off but he knew Fukashi would protest. He just prayed that Fukashi would finish soon so he could give them back. 

"Do you know Sae Niijima?" he began, his voice a low hum. 

"Sae-san?" Goro mumbled. "Of course." He worked alongside Sae on the case of the Phantom Thieves, even before ransom had been declared on them. Of course, he knew Sae Niijima. What did this have to do with...?

Then it clicked. Fukashi saw it and didn't continue. The sisters the blonde mentioned earlier. Sae and Makoto. He was a Niijima. He was a  _Niijima_. Holy shit, he was a Niijima! Sae never mentioned having a younger brother, and Makoto doesn't seem to be aware that she has any other siblings. That's what he meant by refusing to acknowledge him. This meant so many things.

Niijimas were known to be sharp and perceptive. It seemed to be some kind of trait passed down since Sae and Makoto were as observant and quick-witted as they came (They were horrible at spying though, Makoto was so conspicuous it hurt). It wouldn't make sense for Fukashi to be different. That's why he remembered things Goro didn't, even if Goro had been purposely avoiding said memories. 

"Let's begin from the start, shall we?" Fukashi suggested, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed air. Figuratively speaking, swallowing his doubt. "I'm obviously Sae's younger brother... Makoto and I are the same age. To put it short, we're twins. The difference is Makoto was born healthy... I..." He hung his head as if remembering something painful. "...wasn't."

Goro easily put two and two together. "Your eyes. You have a disease in your eyes. That's why they're so light in color. It's why you need such strongly prescribed lenses." 

The blonde chuckled humorlessly. "You noticed? It's painful... isn't it? Wearing them when you don't need them?" Goro nodded. "Do you want me to take them back?"

He was about to respond 'yes' and hand him back the glasses, but by some great power, he kept his mouth shut and shook his head. "I'll live. Continue."

"If you insist," Fukashi mused. "I was sick and the last thing my parents wanted was a sick child that would have a life stuck in a hospital. So Makoto went home and I stayed at the hospital. They cured me... eventually. But my vision was scarred forever." Goro shifted around so he was facing Fukashi now, staring at him with a thoughtful expression."I only saw blurs no matter how far away or how close I was to something or someone. They almost declared me blind before they specially prescribed glasses were given to me. It was later when they gave me contacts... I don't wear those as often.

"They could send me home but tragedy struck. Something happened to our mother. It was just Sae, Makoto, and my father and he could barely support the three of them. If they were to add me and the price of my medications, they would surely fall into poverty so they sent me to foster care. Sae always knew... she knew I existed. She never said anything... I've talked to her before, many times. Whenever I come to Tokyo for volleyball competitions I stop by and we have chats. Makoto never knew so Sae never lets me interact with her when I'm in Tokyo. When I told her I was moving to Tokyo and requested to stay at her flat, she denied me. She couldn't support me too. No one could support me.

"Foster care is horrible, we both know it." he breathed out in a pained whisper. "Japan still isn't very open to the idea of taking in a child that isn't  _there's._ Finding a good foster family is like finding a needle in a haystack. Many of them were inexperienced at raising children, and some simply did it for the image... You'd understand. There are many horrors in foster care... I'll vomit if I dare talk about them here..."

A shiver ran up Goro's spine as unwanted memories resurfaced. He forced them down and nodded for Fukashi to continue. The blonde didn't for a few seconds as if he himself were recovering from the horrid experiences they both had encountered. "I reached high school... you left... I got sent back a couple towns for a new foster home... It was miserable if you haven't already guessed. Then I met the volleyball coach for the school. They took a large interest in me once they spotted me playing volleyball during a gym class."

"Your life must've been decent after that," the brunette guessed.

Fukashi's eye twitched and his calm expression flickered to something darker. Goro was immediately put off, pulling his guard up and reprimanding himself for the assumption. "Hardly," he growled. "The coach? He's like... that Kamoshida guy but worse. But there are no Phantom Thieves to expose him there! And I had to live with him! _Live with him!_ " he yelled, but quieted afterward to listen for sounds of footsteps, hoping Sojiro didn't hear anything. The blonde took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. The detective watched warily, but Fukashi continued speaking in a hushed whisper. "He abused players no matter what gender they were... he... he..."

Suddenly, Fukashi stood and ran over to what he assumed was an empty box and bent over it and vomited. A spark of concern set off in the other boy, but he stayed where he was and just watched the blonde with extreme caution. When he was done, Goro asked, "Are you alright?" Fukashi, who had been staring at his legs as if he could burn through them, snapped his head up to meet the other's stare. He nodded, standing up, but even from where Goro sat, he could hear the blonde's shaky breathing. 

Fukashi, who had been staring at his legs as if he could burn through them, snapped his head up to meet the other's stare. He nodded, standing up, but even from where Goro sat, he could hear the blonde's shaky breathing. Nothing could properly summarize how the blonde felt in that moment, reliving all the horrors of high school in his coach's household. Nothing could properly show the fear he felt when he arrived home with his foster father, who in minutes would have him lying in an obscene position in the basement to be used. The blonde looked short of breaking down but sat down, keeping his voice strong.

"...the point is, he's a disgusting man who doesn't deserve to be alive. After the volleyball season finished, I left for Tokyo. I left somewhere in the middle of the night so the coach didn't notice and jumped onto the first train that showed up at the station. I called Sae when I arrived but like I said earlier, she denied me... I organized a transfer to Shujin Academy with help of one of the teachers. Her name is Kawakami. Akira's homeroom teacher. I've been sleeping in the library after-school hours... I don't actually start school until tomorrow—"

"Ryuji didn't know you," Goro interrupted. "I knew something was up when you said you were a new student. You haven't started school yet. You transferred late in the year. And to all places, Tokyo. I have a feeling this isn't just because of Sae." Through the painful glasses, Goro challenged Fukashi with a fierce glare. "Should I continue...?"

Purple eyes flickered over to the window. "You're right. It's not just about Sae. I wanted to see you."

He was taken aback, shocked. "Why did you want to see me? We barely know—"

"You're the only thing that's given me strength for the past two years," Fukashi interrupted. "You went to Tokyo and made your life independent from everyone else. You found success. Every time I would read something about you online or saw you on television, it filled me with a sense of determination. If you could make your life better, so could I. So I came here to make my life a blank slate again and start over."

If only Fukashi knew about all the horrors Goro had committed to get to where he was. Goro felt conflicted, half-wanting to take it as a compliment but it was an empty one since it was founded on a bed of lies that is Goro's life. Of course, he couldn't ruin Fukashi's image of him just yet so he pressed his lips into a thin line as if he was thinking before he said, "Yes."

The blonde's line of vision drifted from the window to Goro in a matter of milliseconds. "Yes to what?" he quipped, slightly surprised.

"You can stay in my apartment." Fukashi's face brightened up until he remembered something, the other part of the compromise. 

"Th-Thank you. Now I'll help you," he stuttered. He was still in some form of shock but at least he could properly compose sentences. Goro raised an eyebrow,  _help...?_

"I don't need help with anything, though I do appreciate the offer—"

Fukashi blurted out, "They caught onto you." It immediately piqued the detective prince's interest. Who were they? And what did they catch onto? His fake smiles...? Or... Wait. Shit.

"You're kidding," Goro said through forced laughter. The former volleyball player shook his head. 

"I'm not."

"How do you even know about that?" he murmured. "You shouldn't know anything about the Metaverse." Maybe it was a mistake to mention the Metaverse out loud, but Fukashi's expression didn't change, so it was safe to assume the blonde already knew about it. The question was, how.

The teenager pulled out his phone from his pocket and showed Goro the dreaded app the brunette had been hoping the other didn't have. The black eye stared dead into Goro's soul, surrounded by that ever ominous red background. "Let's say opportunity decided to pay me a little visit too. Funny thing, it appeared when I showed up in Tokyo. Interesting isn't it...?"

"How many times have you entered it?" As if someone somewhere flipped a switch, detective mode was on. What the hell was this job doing to him?

"Five. The first couple of times was by the headquarters for Okumura Foods and near the police station. The other time I was in Shinjuku, near a shady place that looked kind of like a brothel," the boy answered immediately. "I have reason to believe I saw the infamous Phantom Thieves when I entered the headquarters for Okumura Foods. It was on a visit to Tokyo back in September when I overheard a group of kids talking about a space station or something. Last week when I passed by I mentioned the space station... and then..."

"You entered the Metaverse."

"Yeah."

Goro stared at his lap, the gears in his head spinning. "What I still don't understand is how you know they caught onto me if you've only been to Tokyo permanently for a week?"

"I've been watching them all week. Followed loud mouth Sakamoto around and then Takamaki and Kurusu. When I got a better look at them in the Metaverse I could definitely confirm they're the Phantom Thieves. The only other person running around in the Metaverse would be... well, you."

The brunette's eyes widened. "You saw me in the Metaverse?"

"Did you know you're the edgiest person I know?" he snorted. "Seriously, your outfit reminds me of that guy... Elvis something... From America. And that mask, damn it isn't doing wonders y'know?"

Goro narrowed his eyes at him, showing no amusement in his expression. "Shut it, Niijima."

Fukashi let out a small laugh. "I saw you kill Okumura's shadow before the whole joint came crashing down. I got out after the Thieves, they were too worried about dying to notice me. Also, can I see your phone?"

"Why...?"

"I want to show you what that Sakura girl did." Futaba did something to his phone...? When? Nevertheless, Goro handed his phone over and leaned closer to watch what exactly Fukashi was doing. He was about to protest when he saw the blonde rummaging through files in his phone but held his tongue when he saw Fukashi pick out a particular one that Goro didn't recognize. "The little brat bugged your phone, Goro."

The brunette's eyes widened. " _Delete it!_ " he exclaimed suddenly and Fukashi did as he was told.

"They already have proof. A recorded conversation between you and some other guy who they assume is your boss. They know you're going to get Akira caught and murder him later. They've been onto you the moment you joined the team." He listened to this all with great panic. His plan was going to crumble to pieces in a matter of weeks, and if Fukashi never said anything or even came to Tokyo, the Phantom Thieves would've won and he would've been undermined again. What was he going to do now? He promised Shido a good show to keep him out of suspicion, and he'd be deemed useless if he failed.

It was if the volleyball player had been reading his mind because he spoke. "You want to get back at them, right?" he asked, his voice filled with excitement. Goro looked back up at him to find that cold smile back on the blonde's face. He nodded warily out of interest, still on guard. "We'll just have to play them at their own game. At this point, they can suspect that you're against them... but they won't know if a whole other group of Metaverse users is out to get them."

"A whole other group...?" Goro whispered.

"If I can enter the Metaverse, I obviously must have whatever you call it—"

"A persona?"

"Yeah, a persona. And it's not like they're the only persona users out there. There has to be more. After all, everyone has a little rebel in them, don't you think, Goro?" He hated that he had to agree with the possibility, but Fukashi's plan had properly claimed his attention and now all he wanted to know was more. "The Thieves haven't been to that palace in Shinjuku yet, so we'll take that and make our own name. If there are two fighters of justice in the game, they'll have to fight to stay relevant. And all the while, you can be the double-cross agent. Keep us aware of their moves while tricking them in the process."

The two locked eyes and Goro couldn't keep the twisted smile away. 

"So, what do you say, leader?"

* * *

 

 The group met downtown near the courthouse and the police station, which stood next to each other. Morgana had lept out of Akira's bag and was now stretching on the pavement, ready to infiltrate the palace. They were all making last-minute conversation, waiting for Akechi to arrive. Ryuji was one of many who had been surprised Akechi was late, seeing as he was usually a punctual person. Alas, the brunette arrived eventually, and guess what?

He looked like absolute crap.

Concern pricked Ryuji's heart but he just lazily snapped, "You're late, Goro." The remark earned an elbow in the gut from Ann and he let out an 'Oof!'. "Hey, what was that for?" he muttered.

"Afternoon Akechi-kun," Haru greeted and the detective smiled at her. It was a weak smile, and Ryuji was convinced Akechi was about to topple over and pass out. The teenager stayed strong though and approached the group despite the light bags under his eyes. His smile wasn't exactly plastic, it looked very real in fact, but it wasn't properly covering how tired the brunette appeared.

"You okay, man? You look like someone just asked you to run a marathon after an hour of sleep." Of course, in his head, Akechi was panicking since he hadn't had the time to take a good look in the mirror. After Fukashi left, he grabbed a cup of coffee from Sojiro and headed down to the station to submit some finished cases before rushing back to his apartment to move around some stuff for the former volleyball player. And then on top of that, he somehow missed the subway train so he had to run all the way to the station which luckily wasn't too far away, but still far enough that the run was a pain in the ass.

Plus earlier in the day he was forced to wake up to play video games for a dumb competition hosted by the girl who fucking bugged his phone. So yeah, in a way, someone did make him run a marathon. He didn't bother to hide the frustration caused by the statement because he was too tired to, and now that he knew the Thieves could see through his facade anyway, the only thing he needed to fake was his alignment with them.

"If you're not feeling well Akechi, we can do this tomorrow," Makoto intervened. "It's not good to enter the palace is such an exhausted state."

He wanted to say he's been through worse, but kept the comment to himself and shook his head. "Thank you for the consideration, Makoto, but I'm fine. Besides, with the search warrant up for us it's better we start as soon as we can."

"That's bullshit," Ryuji blurted out. While it was something he could've kept quiet about, he wasn't heartless. And while he probably wouldn't admit it, in the long run, he's been majorly concerned about Akechi's health since he ended up in the hospital. "Go sleep, idiot. You're asking to get killed if you enter like this. Plus you're useless if you collapse like you did in the subway."

Akechi decided to ignore the insult to his ego and stated for the second time, "I'm fine, honestly. We're wasting time so let's enter the palace." To be honest it almost felt like the others were trying to get rid of him rather than express their concern for his health. It wouldn't be that far-fetched considering what Akechi knew now about them. Akira stood, as he had been leaning against a bus pole, and nodded.

"Keywords? Anyone?" he hummed.

The gang thought for awhile, coming up with different ones until Makoto mentioned a casino. It was then that the entered Niijima's palace, and were introduced to the world of Sae Niijima. At first, everything appeared the same until they continued walking further and saw the courthouse.

The courthouse had transformed into a large and brightly colored casino. There were lights flashing everywhere, blinding Ryuji who shaded his eyes with his hand, along with a couple others. Ann tsked with disgust and internally, Futaba cringed. As they came closer they could hear the voices of crowds of cognitive people entering the casino to gamble, of course. Even Akechi was slightly put off by this. Sae considered the courthouse a casino? While his claims about Sae's corruption were true, he wasn't aware she was  _that_ twisted.

Since they couldn't enter from the main entrance, they needed to find another way to enter. Luckily Morgana—who was no longer a cat, what even was he?—spotted a window they could climb through. 

"Shouldn't we decide a code name for Akechi before we enter?" Yusuke reminded the others before they all took off or something. Akira shrugged and glanced at Akechi.

"How about Karasu? You know, a raven?" The brunette suggested. Ryuji and Yusuke, who had already seen his outfit knew it would fit his bird-like mask but Makoto interrupted.

"But that would make your code name the only Japanese one."

To get it over with, Ryuji sighed and said, "How about, uh, Crow?"

"Crow it is."

Akechi held back his disdain for the surname and took it anyway. The nine of them proceeded to enter the casino through the open window where their casual attire transformed into their thief clothing. Once again Yusuke and Ryuji were exposed to the bird prince. For a couple of seconds, Akechi felt regal until Futaba exploded into a fit of laughter.

"Is something wrong?" Akechi asked, turning to look at Futaba. Akira contained his snickers as well and just smiled, crossing his arms. Futaba shook her head, trying to regain her composure and failing horribly.

"Is  _that_ your thief costume?" she giggled. "You're like the flashiest thing here! If I didn't know it was you I would've guessed you're a casino decoration!" Yusuke grimaced but said nothing and the others rolled their eyes.

"It's just what he thinks a hero looks like," Morgana explained.

"It's not like you're rocking it with the techno cargo pants anyway," Ryuji snorted, crossing his arms. Akechi felt a slight sense of pride. At least Ryuji was defending him in his odd... way. 

Makoto soon interrupted the nonsensical feud and the Thieves took turns explaining to Akechi how they stole hearts. The detective listened, interrupting every once in awhile to which Ryuji or someone else snapped for him to be quiet and quit cutting in. A strange feeling welled up in Akechi's gut as he listened and he felt himself sinking deeper and deeper into guilt as he picked up on what they were doing. If only he had met these people years ago when he first discovered his powers. If only he had run into some talking cat like Morgana to teach him how to use the Metaverse correctly.

When they got to the calling card part, Akechi appeared strangely enthusiastic to learn the calling card part was necessary. Truth be told, he had always been intrigued by the calling cards. They were stylish and attention-grabbing and struck just enough fear and curiosity in crowds and put the target on perfect high alert. For his original plan to work, he was supposed to force them to send it on the last day.

With the uprising of a new Metaverse group that Fukashi suggested, that part of the plan along with many others may have to be forfeited. He was slightly annoyed that he hadn't come up with the plan himself or that he even agreed to Fukashi's help anyway. He got to where he was without anyone else. He didn't need anyone else. And then in came this blonde with a sob story and a plan ready to get back at the Thieves. It seemed almost too perfect. Why Fukashi would even want to go after the Thieves is beyond him. It might have something to do with no one taking action back in the town with the coach situation.

It instilled a sense of unfairness which Akechi could understand. Still, this was supposed to be his show and he didn't feel like sharing the spotlight. Ultimately the goal is his and only his. He will make Shido's life a living hell and no one will stop him, whether they know about him or not.

He followed the Thieves as they started the infiltration, still deep in thought. Joker had him up front with Ryuji and Haru while the others stayed behind the main party. For the most part, everything was nice and calm until they were called out by Shadow Sae herself. Sae's shadow had an interesting look, dressed in black and dark makeup, with a spiked choker around her neck and a dog tattoo on her forearm. Sae suggested them a deal, but their answer was left undetermined when left before they could say a thing. They figured the only way to follow her was by elevator and there were shadows guarding it, so they did their thing.

Like planned, Akechi unveiled his persona Robin Hood and he dueled with the monsters alongside Noir, Skull, and Joker. To show off, Akechi started off with a powerful attack that downed more than half of the shadow's health. He caught Skull gaping but soon it was his turn, and his focus returned to beating the monster. That was the fastest time that they had ever killed a shadow and it was evident everyone was stunned.

The amount of power Akechi had was unexpected and Joker made the subconscious decision to keep him on the main party. It also added some slight suspicion, since it seemed unrealistic that he was so powerful if he only got his powers a month ago. They already knew he was the traitor, it was just... His powers were, to say the least,  _frightening_.

No one commented on it though and after a little exploration, they returned to the real world where Akechi proceeded to stumble into Yusuke due to pure exhaustion. Alarmed, Yusuke shot the others a worried look as the brunette tried to stabilize himself and failed horribly. Futaba didn't bother to restrain her snickers while the others genuinely looked concerned. Besides Akira, who... no one really knew what the hell he was feeling or thinking ninety-nine nine percent of the time.

"Ah... ha...ha... I apologize," Akechi chuckled, trying to get his legs to cooperate with him as fatigue took over his nerves. "I didn't think I'd be so tired..."

"That's why we were asking you if you were okay earlier, idiot," Ryuji remarked, crossing his arms and making no move to help whatsoever. 

"I could call someone to give you a ride home, Akechi-kun," Haru suggested. Akechi shook his head, finally being able to stand straight.

"I'll be fine, my apartment isn't too far from here anyway."

Makoto shifted, looking uneasy. "Maybe someone should go with you to make sure you don't faint on us again."

The detective blinked, becoming slightly irritated at their determination towards the topic. He was fine, a little tired (that's a lie, he probably was going to collapse in the next five minutes), but fine and he could get home by himself. He was a responsible seventeen-year-old who murdered people for a sociopathic politician. He was sure he could get home by himself without blacking out.

"I'll go," Yusuke volunteered. It didn't come too much as a shock, just kind of strange. Ryuji wasn't sure why, but he felt a little peeved about that. Honestly, why would he want to walk with the brown-haired brat to his apartment anyway?

 _Because you want to see what else that mouth can do_. Ryuji quickly stopped his right brain from continuing after that. He didn't need a random boner in the middle of the fucking afternoon, imagining what the hell could've happened between them if Ryuji did walk Akechi home. Besides, he wasn't Akechi's mom. He could walk himself home. This was unnecessary.

 _Or maybe you're just jeal_ — 

Ryuji told his right brain to shut it.

"I... I guess it won't hurt," Akechi muttered. "I, er, need to get home immediately so I hope none of you mind if we leave now."

"We won't," Futaba snorted. "Go on, lovebirds. Tell us what happens afterward, Inari." The brunette's face flushed red, and he decided now was a good time to make an exit. So he began to walk, leaving the others behind, and Yusuke didn't realize until a minute afterward they were going. Ryuji watched them until the disappeared, denying that Futaba's statement only seemed to be feeding the monster curling up in his stomach. Agh, he was going to be sick. He needed to go for a run.

"Hey, Akira," Ryuji called, turning to his best friend. "How about we go for a run?"

The black-haired teen shrugged and the two disappeared down the street. Ironically, the same way Akechi and Yusuke were going. Was Ryuji being a stalker? No. But now he could see them turning right. Would anyone notice if he followed... Stop it Sakamoto. Run. Anywhere. Just. Run.

Meanwhile, Akechi was awkwardly attempting to make small talk with the artist, having not anticipated any of the weird answers he received from the other. He was ready to give up and continue walking in silence when Yusuke asked:

"Why does Ryuji call you 'Goro'?"

The detective blinked for a few seconds. He barely registered the question itself, and when he did he internally panicked. Was he supposed to have an answer for this? He never asked, he just let Ryuji call him 'Goro' for the act (no, it was because he liked the way Ryuji said it but he would never admit that to himself). Why was Yusuke even asking? Wasn't he content with calling him 'Akechi'? Were they getting on a first name basis now? Akechi opened his mouth to respond but after a second or two closed it again. 

Finally, he mumbled, "I don't really know. I just er, let him do it." Yusuke seemed to the accept the answer so he relaxed, only to tense up again when Yusuke spoke again.

"Can I call you Goro?"

"Knock yourself out," he sighed, not really knowing what else to contribute to the conversation. Yusuke blinked, narrowing his eyes at the sidewalk and Akechi could already tell he had another question.

"Why would I knock myself out?" the blue-haired male mumbled. The brunette sighed and restrained himself from running when his apartment building came into view.

Akechi forced a chuckle, "It's just a saying. Don't actually knock yourself out."

"Oh."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick question: Was anyone expecting me to pull a "random oc is related to canon character"? Because if so, I'm horrible at foreshadowing. XD
> 
> Also, who thinks Goro is just adorable when he discovers calling cards aren't just for show? Like, literally, his face lit up. Oml. I'm going to go watch that again. And probably play the game for the third time. 
> 
> Spoiler: Goro never gets his pancakes T-T.
> 
> Note: From now on I'll be referring to Akechi with his first name now since Ryuji, Fukashi, and Yusuke address him by Goro now. Also, no, Fukashi is not a love interest for Akechi. I'm just adding in the fact that Fukashi is attracted to Akechi because of their similar backgrounds and how much he admires the other. If anyone's wondering, Fukashi is actually going to end up with Mishima so stay tuned for that!
> 
> Anyone else excited about Fukashi's plan to go into action?


End file.
